Omnipotence
by wlfgang213
Summary: YAHF Xander dresses as Q (from Startrek) for Halloween, and Sunnydale will never be the same. Now going to crossover with: Doctor Who, Stargate SG1, Early Edition, Firefly, Harry Potter. Future possible crossovers: Castle, Psych
1. Chapter 01 - Q

AN: I've been told I have a problem writing overpowered characters, so I took that, and ran with it. So this is 'Xander dresses as Q from Star Trek TNG for Halloween.

Warning: This is not meant to be taken seriously, as Xander with Q's powers are going to run roughshod over the storyline.

Q looked around the place he found himself, and it took only a thought to identify his location.

"Hmm.. This definitely isn't the Enterprise. Sunnydale California, October thirty-first, nineteen ninety eight. There's no continuum, and I'm not in my own body." with a small flash of light, an ornate hand held mirror appeared in his hand, which he gazed into.

"Yes, you are Alexander Harris. Dressed as Q for Halloween, and someone made you become me." He sniffed the air. "This stinks of Chaos magic."

"Xander!" A voice cried from behind him, and he turned to face a red haired girl dressed in revealing clothing. "Xander, thank god."

"I'm sorry, Miss Rosenberg, but Xander isn't home right now. I am Q."

"Oh my god, you turned into your costume as well. We have to find... Buffy!" Willow cried, as she spotted the currently brunet slayer. She ran over to the girl who was hiding behind a tree, looking terrified.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Willow exclaimed.

"What?" The girl asked.

"Are you hurt?"

"Buffy?" He thought for a millisecond. He was omniscient, he just had to find the knowledge amongst infinite information. "Ah, yes, Buffy Summers, the vampire slayer."

"You know of her?" Willow asked.

"My dear girl, I know everything." Q answered.

Willow turned to Q. "She's not herself. Can you do anything for her?"

"Well it would be handy to have the vampire slayer owe me a favor." With that, he snapped his fingers. In a flash of white light, the brown hair and gown were gone, and she was back to blonde, dressed in skinny jeans and a blouse.

"Oh, thank god." Buffy said. "It's like I was trapped inside, but couldn't do anything.

"Well you're all better now. You owe me." Q said.

"I'm sorry, but who are you? Xander wouldn't tell me who he dressed as, though I recognize the star trek uniform.

"My dear, I am Q."

"Just Q?" She asked. "Well that's a weird name. Anyway, we gotta find out who is responsible for all this madness."

"Oh that's simple." Q said. With a flash of light, a figurehead statue of Janus appeared in his hands. "All I need to do is smash this, and the spell ends. Care to do the honor, slayer?"

He passed the statue to Buffy who held it above her head, and smashed it down on the ground.

"Goodbye." Q said, as a wave of energy escaped the statue and flared outward, canceling the effect of the spell.

Xander rubbed his hands on his face. "Whoa."

He still felt it. Knowledge. He could feel the entire universe, and knew what the future held.

"Everybody okay?" Buffy asked.

After getting affirmative answers, Willow spoke up. "We need to gather all the kids back together and take them back to the school.

"No problem." Xander muttered, still bothered by his omniscience. He snapped his fingers, and a bunch of kids appeared in front of them, in flashes of light, all laughing and joking, telling stories about what they believed to be a very vivid dream, and inspecting their candy, which Xander had given back to them when they reappeared.

"How..." Willow was shocked, "How did you..."

"I dunno." Xander said, "I think whatever changed in me was to powerful too be undone."

"So you're now an omnipotent being? Cool!"

They walked for another minute, before suddenly Spike steped out from behind a tree.

"Well well, Slayer, A little birdie tells me that you are all weak tonight."

Buffy got into a fighting stance, ready to mouth off a one liner, when Xander grabbed her arm.

"Allow me." He snapped his fingers, and Spike vanished in a flash of light. In his place is a large ornate wooden box with a crank on the side. After all, Q doesn't do anything that's not ornate.

"What did you do?" Buffy asked.

Xander ignored her, and turned around. Crouching, he spoke. "Hey kids, which one of you wants to turn the crank?" A bunch of the kids raised their hands, shouting 'me, me."

Xander pointed at one of the kids. "You there, come forward."

The little girl dressed like a ballerina ran forward excitedly. She ran to the box, and spun the crank. As she did, the box emitted the 'pop goes the weasel' song. As it ended, the box popped open, and out shot Spikes head, attached to a spring.

"Ah!" Screamed Spike's head. "Bloody slayer, what have you done to me?"

"Don't look at me, it was my all powerful friend here." she laughed as they continued walking towards the school, Spike still shouting in the background.

After dropping the kids off with their parents, they retreated to the library, where Giles was still there, organizing the card catalog.

"G man, it has been one hell of a night." Xander said, as they entered. The three students sat at the table, Giles joining them.

"Wha- What has happened? Halloween is supposed to be a quiet night, for the supernatural."

Willow began one of her patented willow rants, "We got turned into our costumes and I was a ghost and Buffy was a noblewoman and Xander was Q and She smashed a bust and we all went back to normal except Xander and now he's all powerful."

"How do you mean, all powerful?" Giles asked.

Xander snapped his fingers and in two flashes, Buffy and Willow were dressed in bikinis.

"Wha- Xander!" They cried at the same time, Willow turning bright red, and trying to cover herself, while Buffy smacked him on the back of the head.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." In another flash, Both girls were dressed normally, Willow no longer in her Halloween costume, but in her regular clothes. He turned to Giles. "Q is an omnipotent super being. He can literally do anything. He can remake the universe with a snap of the fingers."

"Dear lord, the power of a god in the hands of Xander Harris."


	2. Chapter 02 - Anne

Chapter 02: Anne Summers

"Dear lord, the power of a god in the hands of Xander Harris."

"Aren't you just loving it?" He asked. "Which reminds me..."

He snapped his fingers and in a flash of light, Angel appeared.

"What?" He asked, "How did I get here?"

"Xander brought you here." Buffy told him. "He's sort of all powerful now."

"Yes I am. Oh, By the way, I fixed that little soul problem of yours."

"What soul problem?" Angel questioned, "My soul is not a problem."

"There is a clause. Hang on, there's someone else who should hear this."

In a flash Jenny Calendar appeared, wearing a sexy nurses outfit.

Willow looked outraged, "Xander, what is it with you, and sexy outfits?"

"I didn't do it, that's what she was already wearing. Here." In another flash, she was wearing regular clothing.

"Um, how did I get here?" She asked.

"Xander brought you, it's a thing." Buffy explained, before turning to Xander, "Now, What clause?"

"You see, when the Gypsies put deadboys soul in place, there was a sort of escape clause. If he has a moment of perfect happiness, his soul flies the coup, and Angelus returns."

Everyone gasped, surprised at this information.

"What I did was anchor his soul in place. It'll never leave him again."

One could almost see tears in Angel's eyes, as he faced Xander. As he spoke, it was truly heartfelt. "Thank you."

"Oh and another thing, you know how we are always competing for Buffy's attention, with me losing? Well..."

In a flash of light, there stood a second Buffy, who looked around the room confused, before her eyes locked on Xander.

"Xand." She whispered, before throwing herself into his arms, crying.

"You get that one," Xander said, "and I get this one. Everybody is happy."

"You... you can't just copy me!" Buffy cried.

"Almost everyone," He muttered, before looking at the original Buffy, "Who said anything about a copy? I plucked her out of an alternate universe, where we were together, but now she is the last living member of the Scoobies. I then helped to ease her loss of us, and informed her of what I wanted to do. With her permission, I might add, I brought her here."

His Buffy, Henceforth known as Buffy2, leaned back, looked into his eyes, and kissed him softly. She then sat in his lap, putting her arm around his shoulders. She smiled at Willow, tears running down her face. "I've missed you guys so much."

She looked around the room, grinning at Angel, and the other Buffy, henceforth known as Buffy1, and spoke. "This is kinda weird."

"You're telling me." Buffy1 said.

Buffy2 looked around the room, then looked at Willow. "Where's Oz?"

"Uh-ah." Xander said to Buffy2, "They can't know about him yet."

"Who's Oz?" Willow asked.

"Sorry," Xander explained, "her world ran a little ahead of this one, just ignore that."

"So Oz is going to be a part of this group?" Buffy1 asked.

"I should just erase all your memories about her asking that question, luckily you guys are my friends, so I won't do that, but you can't ask too many questions about your personal futures. I don't want to affect your free will."

Giles looked like he was the only one to understand what he meant.

"Anyway. It's late, and I... well, I never need sleep again, but Buffy here does, so we're going to go. Good night all."

Buffy2 stood from his lap, and together they strolled from the library, and into the night. It didn't take long for them to arrive at Xander's parents home. They stood outside looking at the house for a moment, before Buffy2 spoke.

"You're all powerful now, right? So why go back there after how they treat you?"

"You've got a point." Xander commented. In a dual flash, Both he and Buffy2 were standing in front of a run down mansion on Crawford street. Xander snapped his fingers, and the run down mansion was no longer run down. It was brand new, despite being a Victorian manor house. As they approached the front door it opened and out stepped a balding man in a tuxedo.

"Welcome home, sir. Can I get you anything?"

"Not tonight, Jeeves. Buffy is exhausted, and we're going to bed. Have a good night, yourself."

"Thank you sir." Jeeves said, as he followed the couple into the house. Jeeves immediately stepped through the side door where he retired to his quarters.

Xander led Buffy2 up the stairs to the master bedroom, where after using his powers to change their clothing, including his starfleet uniform into pajamas, they climbed into bed.

The next day, they met up in the library, and before long Buffy1 and Buffy2 had struck up a rapport. Buffy2 complemented Buffy1 on her shoes, and a friendship was born. After a minute of letting them talk, Xander felt the need to interrupt.

"Buffy and I talked about it this morning, and we figure I can make everyone think you have a twin sister. She agreed to go by the name Anne in public. Anne Summers. Even your mom will think she is your twin."

"You want to mess with my mom's mind?" Buffy1 asked.

"My mom was killed by a vampire," Buffy2 told her, with tears in her eyes. "now I have the chance to see her again."

"Don't worry, Buff, this is easy. No one outside of this room will even know."

She looked at Anne, and nodded. "Okay." She paused for a moment, before speaking again, "I've always wanted a sister."

Xander snapped his fingers. "It's done. Congratulations, Anne."

Anne smiled at him, before throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you. So you'll come with me to see my... sorry," She looked at Buffy, "Our mom later?"

"Of course, My love." He said to her. He looked at Buffy, "Look at it this way, Buffster, you'll be done with Patrol in half the time, now that there are two of you."

"Huh," She said, "I didn't think about that."

"I did," Giles spoke up for the first time, then looked at Anne "With your permission, I'd like to work out a patrol schedule with you both, so we can optimize on having two slayers."

"I can't actually be killed," Xander said, "So count me in on the patrol."

"Of course." Giles replied.

After finishing up the meeting, Xander went with Buffy and Anne back to 1630 Revello Drive.

"Hi mom, I'm home." Buffy called. Joyce stepped out from the kitchen, and smiled seeing both girls, and Xander holding the hand of who she believed to be one of her daughters.

"Hello, girls. Hello, Xander." She hugged Buffy before Hugging her sister. Anne was crying as she held her mother.

"I missed you, Mom."

"But I just saw you this morning, dear." She released her daughter who had still had tears running down her face, and Xander took her hand, offering her comfort.

"Hi Miss S." Xander said.

"Come sit, Dinner is almost ready. Won't you join us, Xander?"

"I'd love to."

During dinner, Xander, with his hand under the table, snapped his fingers, healing Buffy's mom, removing the tumor that was already starting to grow.

That night, Anne and Buffy told their mother that they were going to watch movies at Xanders but they really went on patrol. Buffy went with Angel, and Anne went with Xander.

They were sweeping through their second cemetery, when they were jumped by six vampires. At first, Xander stood back, and let Anne fight. He knew that as a slayer, she needed to work out aggression, and she had a lot after loosing everyone she cared about in her home universe.

She was doing great at first, until one of the vampires got behind her and hit her with a lucky shot to the back of her head, knocking her down. One of the vamps pulled his leg back to kick her, when they all vanished in a flash of light.

Anne stood, throwing her arms around Xander's neck, and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you," She said, "Though I totally could have handled them."

"I know, you're a big tough slayer."

"Where'd you send them, anyway?"

"Not where, when." Xander answered, "Right here, in about twelve hours."

"So mid day, when the sun is high. Nice."

They finished the other four cemeteries, before meeting up with Angel and Buffy.

"How'd you do?" Anne asked.

"Just three," Buffy answered, "Bit of a slow night."

"Not too bad, We got hit by six in Sunnydale cemetery. "He sent them to the same spot at noon tomorrow."

"Crispy critters." Xander added.

It was a week and a half later, and Buffy was feeling pretty down, because she had seen Angel kiss another woman.

"Angel loves you," Anne said, "There must be an explanation."

"Aw, you just need cheering up." Xander pointed out, "And I know just the thing! Crazed dance party at the Bronze!"

Buffy just grunted.

"Very calm dance party at the Bronze?" Buffy glared at him, "Moping at the Bronze?"

"I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase." Came the voice of a boy who walked up behind her.

Xander sighed, he knew who this was. Ford, the boy with the tumors in his brain. Easy for Xander to fix, and he would, if Ford left Buffy alone. He'd need to talk to the boy. He made plans on how to do that, while Buffy greeted him with a huge smile. Because the world Anne came from ran ahead of this one, she had already dealt with Ford, and knew what he was trying to do. Soon Buffy left with Ford, flirting outrageously the whole time. Xander just sighed. He loved Anne with all his heart, but it was still painful seeing her exact twin flirt with someone else.

After school was over, Xander teleported himself into the Sunset Club, where Ford was currently making plans with the vampire groupies.

After appearing behind the gathered people, leaning against a pillar, he spoke. "Hello, Ford."

"Xa- Xander, what are you doing here?" Ford asked.

"I know about your tumors." Xander explained, "And I can fix you, But you have to drop this whole plan to sacrifice Buffy, and all these people so you can become a vampire."

"Ford," Spoke up a guy in a goofy looking green velvet cloak, "what's he mean sacrifice us?"

"Oh, didn't you know, he was going to let the vampires kill you all."

"What?" Demanded a blonde woman.

"He'd do anything to prevent dying. So here is the thing, Ford. You drop your plans, and I heal you. You harm Buffy in any way, and I turn you into an Amoeba.

"You can do that?" Ford asked.

Xander snapped his finger, and every other person in the club vanished. In their place were puppies. He had turned them all into puppies. The dogs were yapping and barking, but it was a bit loud, so with a wave of his hand, they were all silenced.

"I can do anything. That amoeba thing, not a meaningless threat."

"Alright, I'll do anything to get rid of these tumors."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Xander pointed at Ford, and the boy grinned widely.

"My headache is gone."

"You're all healed."

"Thank you, buddy, thank you."


	3. Chapter 03 - Europa

AN: It turns out I'm taking this story more seriously than I thought I was going to, so it's going to be decently long. Enjoy chapter 03.

Chapter 03 - Europa

Weeks had passed, and Ford had left town to return to LA. Anne was happy to see him go, without risking Buffy's life, and forced Xander to tell her how he interfered. She agreed that they shouldn't tell Buffy that one of her oldest friends was going to trade her to a vampire.

As the days passed, Anne could see Willow trying to work up the nerve to ask her something. Finally, Anne confronted her one day while they were all in the library.

"I was just wondering..." Willow began, "How did we die?"

"I don't really want to talk about that." Anne said, "It's too hard."

"Don't worry," Xander interjected, "That universe was radically different from this one, those events won't happen here."

"Oh." Willow said.

A week later, Xander was sitting in a reclining chair, being fed Twinkies from a woman in a French maid outfit, while watching Anne and Buffy do callisthenics, when an inkling in the back of his head made him look at his watch. He leapt up from his chair, both it and the woman vanishing in a flash of light, as he cried 'it's time' And turned toward the doors to the library.

Noticing his movement, Anne and Buffy turned to see what he was doing. With a wave of his hand the doors to the library unlocked and swung open. For a moment nothing happened. Then suddenly, a man ran into the library, crying for help.

"Philip?" Giles asked.

Buffy shut off the music the two girls were doing the work out to, and turn to the watcher.

"You know this man, Giles?" Buffy asked.

A moment later, a shambling corpse walked into the library.

"Diedre?" Giles asked again.

"I'll take that as a yes." Anne said. She already lived through this, but the event was already different, thanks to Xanders powers. She decided for now on to play along, even when she already knows the outcome of an event. As Xander pointed out, she never knew when the two universes were going to be different. After all, in her universe, Xander dressed as a soldier for Halloween.

Xander just looked at the shambling zombie, and in a flash of light, she was moved into the locked book cage.

"How to handle this..." He muttered, while rubbing his chin, stroking a non-existent beard. "Ah, I know. First to get rid of the demon."

He snapped his finger, And the demon was pulled from the body, screaming as it burned up, the body dropping to the floor. "Now the corpse."

After a second flash, the corpse stood up, but the rot was gone. The woman, Diedre was alive again.

"I'm not supposed to be allowed to bring people back to life, but guess what? There's no continuum, so there's no one to stop me."

Xander swiped his hand through the air, and the cage opened, freeing the now alive woman.

"Philip? Ripper?" She said.

"Ripper?" Buffy asked. "Why is she calling you Ripper, Giles?"

"Oh um.. it's um... just an old nickname. One I haven't gone by in a long time."

"I'll tell you all about it later, sis." Anne said, having already lived the story once.

Diedre moved forward, out of the book cage, and immediately attacked Giles, wrapping her hands around his throat.

"Giles!" Anne and Buffy cried at the same time. They both leapt forward, and wrestled Diedre off of Giles, shoving her away. Xander waved his hand, tossing her back into the book cage, with the door shutting and locking after her.

"What happened?" Anne asked, looking at Xander. The energy being turned and faced the cage.

"Huh... she has no soul." He snapped his finger, but nothing happened. He tried again, with the same result.

"Well, I guess not even a Q can return a soul from... wherever souls go after." He looked sadly at Giles. "I'm sorry." He took a deep breath, and snapped his fingers. Diedre vanished in a flash, and was gone.

Giles put his hand on Xander's shoulder. "It's alright, Xander. Thanks for trying to save her. I just hope she's happy, where ever she is."

"Um, sorry," Philip said, "But what the bloody hell is going on here?"

Philip hung around for a few days to spend time with Giles, before returning to England, happy that Eyghon was dead. A few days later, Ethan Rayne showed up, looking for protection from the demon, not knowing it was already dead. Xander teleported the man to England, and out of their hair for a while.

It was a week later that Buffy and Angel were attacked while ice skating, by a demon that turned out to be a member of the Order of Taraka. Xander had taken Anne ice skating just days before, but thanks to his powers, they went ice skating on Europa, the sixth frozen moon of the planet Jupiter. How's that for romantic?

While discussing it, Angel pointed out that Anne and Buffy looked identical, and they were both vulnerable to attack. Xander noticed that Buffy was favoring one leg, as she walked to the table in the library to sit, so he spoke.

"Ah yes, that reminds me, I've been meaning to give you two an upgrade."

"What kind of upgrade?" Anne asked.

Xander snapped his fingers, and both girls flashed once.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Better," Buffy said, "My leg doesn't hurt anymore, thanks."

"I don't feel any different." Anne added.

Xander held up his hand, and the weapon locker opened, a sword flying out landing in Xanders hand. He looked at Angel. "You're going to love this."

He spun blindingly quick and shoved the sword through Buffy's stomach, the tip poking out her back.

"Xander!" Willow cried.

"What the hell!" Angel yelled, as he leapt up from the table. Xander ignored them all.

"How do you feel now?"

Buffy was staring down at the sword that was running her through. "It... It doesn't hurt."

"It shouldn't. You can feel it, but there's no pain." He grabbed the handle, and pulled it out from her stomach. "Look now."

Buffy lifted her shirt, and there was no blood, and no injury. Her skin was flawless, as always.

"I improved you both. It'll now take a tactical nuclear strike to kill you. Same with you Anne."

Willow smacked Xander on the arm. "That's for scaring us like that."

Buffy smacked him to. "that's for ruining this shirt." She pointed at the hole in it. "I liked this shirt."

Xander just rolled his eyes, and in a flash, the hole was gone.

To say the least Angel didn't look happy at his girlfriend being run through.

"Come on? Would you have believed me, if I didn't show you?"

Everyone just kind of grumbled. After that, they continued on with their discussion about the Order of Taraka, and managed to scare Buffy half to death.

"Don't worry so much." Xander said, "It's not like they can kill you, anymore."

"He has a point." Anne commented.

After the meeting broke up, Xander teleported home with Anne, and Buffy. Buffy went inside, while Anne pulled Xander down and kissed him thoroughly. After breaking the kiss, Xander spoke.

"If you need me, just shout my name. I can hear myself being summoned."

With that, he vanished in a flash of light.

The next day, at the job fair, Willow got pulled aside to meet with the head honcho of a software firm. When she arrived at the meeting area, she was surprised to see two other boys waiting as well. A short boy with blue spiky hair and...

"Xander?" Willow asked, surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"They want to recruit me to some computer thing. I guess they like my grades."

"But you're nearly failing." Willow pointed out.

"That was before Halloween." He grinned, "Now I'm getting straight A's."

Willow mumbled something that Xander knew involved "using his omniscience is cheating," then turned to the other boy.

"Hi. I'm Willow."

"I'm Oz." He replied.

Willow looked surprised, then turned to Xander, asking with her eyes if it was the same boy.

"Yes, that's Oz." Xander commented, exasperated.

The meeting was over, and Xander told them he would consider their offer, though he really wouldn't, when he heard gunshots. He spun to see Anne lunging at a cop, who was aiming a gun at her. He ran quickly to get to her, while the two wrestled for control of the gun. He got behind her, and with one hand grabbed the top of her head, and spun it around 180 degrees. The woman dropped like a puppet that had her strings cut.

He pulled Anne to himself, hugging her tightly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I knew from my old world what she was going to do, so I got the drop on her."

"That's my girl." He pulled back and noticed a lot of scared people looking between him and the dead assassin.

"Crud." He snapped his fingers, and they all vanished.

"Where'd you send them?" Anne asked.

"Just down the hall, and erased their memories of my killing the cop. As far as they are concerned, she got away."

He looked down at the dead body, which immediately disappeared in a flash of light, leaving no sign it was ever there.

"You are definitely handy to have around. I think I'll keep you." Then she kissed him again.

That afternoon, after classes ended, the scoobies met in the library, where Giles was freaking out, about the Du Lac Cross. It seems that it was stolen from a reliquary. Xander spoke up, telling them what it was used for, namely translating text, in a book that had a spell to heal a vampire.

"Drusilla." Buffy immediately said.

"Seems that way." Giles added.

They discussed it for a bit, before going out on patrol. They weren't out long, when Anne was attacked by a dark skinned girl, that Xander right away knew was the second... or in this case third, slayer.

Kendra lunged at Anne, and suddenly vanished in a flash of light, only to reappear ten feet away.

"Now stop this, Kendra, you can't harm us." Xander said.

"Ye are vampires. It's mah dooty ta slay ya." She said in return.

Xander sighed. "Yeah, we're not vampires. You really need to fix your slaydar."

"My what?"

"Slaydar." Anne replied. "You know, the sense that lets you identify vampires."

Kendra glared at them for a moment, before lunging at Anne again. "I saw dis one kissing a vampire."

"No, that was my sister." Anne said, before dodging aside. Xander snapped his fingers, moving Kendra away again. This time she noticed his actions, and figured out that he's the one affecting her. Immediately, she turned her focus on him, attacking ferociously.

"Oh, girl, you are definitely attacking the wrong guy." Anne laughed.

She lunged at Xander who was suddenly standing behind her, as she went sailing past the spot he was standing only moments before. There was no light flash, it's just one moment he was in front of her, the next behind.

"There is nothing you can possibly do to me," Xander pointed out, "So how about we go to the local watcher, and get this straightened out?"

Kendra lunged again slamming the stake home into Xander's chest.

"Xan!" Anne cried. Xander just rolled his eyes at her, and pulled the steak from his chest. Then he waved his hand, and Kendra was floating off the ground about three feet away from Xander, struggling uselessly. Xander just sighed.

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why are you so evil?" Kendra asked in return.

Xander grinned at Anne, before turning back to Kendra, "I'm not evil. I'm one of the good guys."

He sighed, before snapping her fingers. Kendra vanished in a flash of light.

"Sent her to Giles?" Anne asked.

"Kinda," Xander replied. "For now she's just gone, I'll bring her back once we get there. Which should happen right about... now."

In a flash of light Anne, Buffy, and Xander were standing in the library.

Giles was looking especially startled, "I do wish you wouldn't do that."

"What's going on?" Buffy asked.

In another Flash, Kendra was back, still floating half a foot off the ground. "Buffy, this is Kendra, the vampire slayer. Kendra, this is Buffy, the other vampire slayer. And this is Anne the... other other vampire slayer."

"There's another slayer? Did you bring this one here too?" Buffy asked.

"No I had nothing to do with this one... Okay, that's not entirely true. Remember last year when you drowned, and I brought you back with CPR? You were dead long enough to activate another slayer."

"She died?" Kendra asked.

"Only for a minute." Buffy pointed out.

"She drowned, but she was revived. Good lord." Giles commented, while cleaning his glasses. "Clearly it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead! Thus causing the activation of the, the next Slayer."

Xander turned to Kendra. "If I let you down, will you behave, and not attack any of us?"

"What are you?" Kendra asked.

"I'm a human being who has evolved so far that I became a being of pure energy, with near omnipotent abilities. At least, that's the theory."

Kendra was speechless.

"I know it's a lot to take in. Don't worry, you'll get used to it, life on the hellmouth." He waved his hand, and Kendra descended the last six inches till she was standing calmly on the ground.

Giles struck up a conversation with Kendra, where she informed him of her watchers name, a mister Zabuto. When Willow entered the library, she was accosted by Kendra, who after finding out her identity was even more surprised.

"Da slayer must work in secret for security. First dese two," She said, pointing at Xander and Anne, "then her."

"We're what keep Buffy alive." Xander explained. "We're her family."

Buffy and Anne gave him huge grins.

"Hi guys, what's going on?" Willow asked.

"Apparently there's been a mix-up." Buffy answered.

"Uh, it seems that, uh, another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale." Giles explained.

"So that's number three?" she asked.

"Yes uh... except uh... The council doesn't know about Anne here, or Xander's powers. I felt it best to keep that from them."

"Oh you bad bad boy you, Ripper." Xander laughed, while kicking back into the reclining lounge chair that appeared behind him.

"What's the flum? It's a mistake, she isn't supposed to be here, she goes home!" Buffy turned to Kendra, "Look, no offense, I really don't mean this personally, but I'm not dead, and frankly having you around creeps me out just a little bit."

"I cannot just leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all de signs indicate dat a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale."

"And what's your great plan for finding this dark power? You just gonna attack people randomly till you find a bad one?"

Anne sat in Xander's lap, and whispered into his ear. "It's a little eerie, hearing someone else say something I've already said.

"I can imagine." He snapped his fingers causing a flash of light to appear momentarily, leaving a Wander wearing a hawaiian shirt standing in front of them.

"Twinkies!" The other Xander cried, before looking around. "Hey, how'd I get here?"

The omnipotent superbeing snapped his fingers again, sending the other Xander away.

"Where'd he come from?" Anne asked.

"I plucked him out of the past for a moment. I always thought that was a dream." He replied, causing her to laugh. They looked at Buffy and Kendra, who had started arguing again, after freezing when the other Xander had appeared.

"I cannot believe you. He looked to me just like anodder animal when I..." Kendra said, talking about Angel.

"When you what?" Buffy asked.

"I..."

"What did you do?"

Kendra explained locking up Angel in a cage in the back of a seedy bar.

"We need to find him." Buffy declared, heading for the door. Xander sighed, heavily at her antics, before snapping his fingers. Angel appeared in a flash of light.

"Angel." Buffy cried, throwing her arms around the souled vampire.

"Thank you, Xander." Angel said. The omnipotent being just nodded.

The next day Xander was hanging out at the summers home, with Anne and Buffy, as their mom was out of town on a buying trip for the gallery, when there was a knock on the door. It was answered by Anne.

"Good day. I'm Norman Pfister with Blush Beautiful," The man said, "Skin Care and Cosmetics. I was wondering if I might interest you in some free samples?"

"Free? One second. Xander!" She cried.

Xander came out of the living room to the front door. He took one look at the man, and spoke.

"Oh yeah, he's an assassin." The look on the man's face was furious. Anne pulled back her arm, and punched him square in the chest, her arm sinking in and covered in bugs.

"Eww..." She cried, pulling her arm back and shaking off the worms. Buffy joined them at the door, hearing Xander's declaration of him being from the Order.

"Allow me, my dear." Xander said, pointing up. Xander and the two slayers looked up to see a black object in the sky, and getting bigger quickly. They looked at Norman, and together, Anne and Buffy waved goodbye to him.

Suddenly the baby grand piano landed on him, squashing his bugs quite thoroughly. Xander snapped his fingers, vanishing the whole mess.

It was late that night, Xander and Anne were patrolling a cemetery, when Xander suddenly stopped walking. "I'm being called for."

In a dual flash Anne and Xander were standing in a destroyed apartment.

"I need your help!" Buffy cried, "Angel is missing. The door to his place has been kicked open, and look, the place was trashed."

Xander let his metasense find Angel, then rolled his eyes. "He's been kidnapped by Spike's goons, working for Drusilla.

"Well... do your thing," Buffy demanded, "Bring him back."

"If I do that, they'll just keep trying to get him. We need to go there, and stop them. Tonight, they'll be at a church on the edge of Sunnydale."

"Why tonight? Why not now?"

"If we go now, they just keep trying to kidnap Angel, and he'll be in no shape to defend himself. We need to stop the ritual while its in progress."

They spent the day arming up for a fight, whittling new stakes, and preparing weapons. Xander of course just snapped his fingers, and had a pile of ready stakes.

"Cheater." Anne said, knife in hand.

"You know you love me." He replied.

"I know." She grinned at him.

That night, they were standing outside the church, watching the patrols around the outside. Xander knew that Spike was out of commission, so they had numerous minions inside and out to watch for the slayer, while they performed the ceremony.

"Ready?" Xander asked.

"Let's move." Buffy said, and started forward. Xander snapped his fingers, causing the patrol passing to burst apart into dust. Anne, Kendra, and himself followed Buffy into the church, where she kicked the doors off their hinges as an entrance.

Xander just sighed as her dramatics. He knew her feelings for Angel were causing her to act irrationally. They should have snuck in and freed him first, then attacked.

Upon entering they froze, seeing Spike's head mounted on a spring, he was still a jack-in-the-box. Buffy and Anne laughed, an angry Spike watching.

"Slayer. And who's that?" He looked at Anne. "There's two of ya, now?"

Kendra entered the church behind them.

"And who the blood hell is that?" Spike cried, confused.

At the front of the church, Angel was sitting, his hand chained to Drusilla's with a dagger stabbed through both their hands.

"Angel." Buffy muttered.

"Yeah. It bugs me, too, seeing him like that." Spike said, "Another five minutes, though, and Angel will be dead, so... I forebear. Don't feel too bad for Angel, though, he's got something you don't have."

"What's that?"

"Five more minutes. Boys!"

More then twenty vampires stepped out from the shadows and other rooms of the church, and charged the group. Buffy, Anne, and Kendra charged them in return.

Xander shoves a flat palm away from his body, causing three vamps to go flying backward. He snapped his fingers, and they exploded apart into dust. He then waved his hand and three stakes went flying away from him, into the hearts of three more vamps.

He snapped his fingers, and five more vamps vanished in a flash of light, sent to the Sahara Desert. One vamp managed to sneak around behind Xander, and lunged at him, biting him on the neck. The vamps teeth pierced his skin, but there was no blood. He sucked, but got nothing. Xander flung him off, and snapped his fingers, sending him too, to the Sahara Desert. Kendra was fighting the last two vamps, when Anne came to him. "Turn Spike back, I want to kick his ass."

He nodded, and there was a flash of light. The jack-in-the-box was gone, and there stood Spike.

"Oh yeah, I got me body back!" He cried. Anne lunged at him, and they began to fight. Xander just stood and watched as she was a thing of beauty, flowing, and moving as she fought. Kendra killed the last two vamps, as Buffy ran to free Angel. Kendra helped carry him out of the church.

During the fight, Spike tried to escape, picking up Drusilla, but Anne kicked them into the wall, where the large pipe organ collapsed on top of them.

After the fight, They were walking away, when Xander spoke. "You know he's not dead."

"Yeah, but he's out of our hair for a while."

They vanished in a flash of light.


	4. Chapter 04 - Unbreakable

Chapter 04 - Unbreakable

Anne had been having nightmares. Nightmares so terrible, that Xander had taken to appearing in her room to hold her at night, comforting her, and who could blame her after what she'd been through.

It was two weeks after the fight at the church, and Kendra had returned home, when Xander, Anne, Buffy, and Willow were on there way to the summers home. They had just arrived when they heard glass break and Anne and Buffy's mom cry out.

"Mom!" The sisters cried in unison, before running into the house. Xander moved to follow them, he knew what was happening.

"Come on, Willow." He said, nonchalantly.

He walked into the kitchen to see a very embarrassed Joyce Summers speaking to a very awkward looking Buffy and Anne.

"These are my daughters, Buffy and Anne. This is Ted."

Later, on Joyce was setting the table, while Ted was in the kitchen, with The girls and Xander, when he got an entertaining idea. In a flash of light, a wooden baseball bat appeared in his hand. He wound up, and smashed it across the back of Ted's head, the bat shattering, but Ted seemed none the wiser. The pieces of broken bat vanished in small flashes of light leaving no trace. Ted turned around to look, and Xander was leaning against the cabinets, his hands in his pockets, looking nonchalant. The girls were shocked, and trying not to laugh.

Ted turned back to his cooking, then there were six flashes of light, and there were six Xanders all armed with Bats. They all wound up, about to swing at the same time, when Anne got his attention, holding up her hand, signaling them to stomp. They all looked sad, like someone stomped on their kitten, then there were more flashes of light. The bats, and five of the Xanders, were gone.

The next day after school they were sitting in the library, talking about Ted.

"He's obviously not human." Anne said.

Xander explained, "He's a machine, an android."

"What?" Buffy asked. "You mean our mom is kissing a... Eww."

"And a serial killer. He marries the same type of woman over and over, then kills them."

"Is Mom safe?" Anne asked. "In my world there was never a Ted, this is all new to me."

"Yeah she's fine for now. It'll be a week or two before he gets to that point."

"What do we do about it?" Anne asked.

"That's up to you two." Xander said. "I thought about going pinocchio on his ass, turn him into a real boy. Problem is, I can't return souls from wherever they go after, I recon I can't create souls either, so that's out. I can get rid of him if you want, make him disappear. I can't affect free will, but luckily he's a machine."

Buffy thought for a moment. "Maybe make him break up with mom first. Then we decommission him."

"Wow, Big word, buff." He joked. She stuck her tongue out at him in return.

"I can always make him already married." Xander pointed out. In a flash a woman appeared, her brown hair in a messy bun. She strode angrily up to Buffy, and started shouting.

"You think you can take my husband away from me, you... hussie!" She then vanished again in another flash.

"That was pretty good," Willow commented.

"If you can't create souls, then how do you create people?" Buffy asked, "Or do you pluck people out of time, and mess with their minds?"

"Actually, it's quite simple." Xander explained, "They aren't real, they are constructs, with simple instructions. They can speak, they can perform actions, but they aren't actually real."

That night, Xander teleported himself to Ted's house, to affect the changes. A simple snap of the fingers and Ted was ready to kindly break up with Joyce. Of course, Joyce was heart broken, but luckily she had her daughters there to comfort her. The next night, Xander took Ted with Anne and Buffy to his uncles scrapyard, where they took pleasure in dismembering him, and dropping the pieces into the melting furnace. After that, Xander called the police to report the bodies in Ted's house. Soon there was a warrant issued for his arrest. Too bad no one would ever see him again.

That night, Anne and Xander had a surprise visitor while on patrol. Angel. He asked to speak to Xander alone. Xander was a bit weary, but agreed, and Anne walked off into the darkness, to continue the patrol.

The two men walked along in silence for a bit, before Angel finally spoke.

"You have all these powers. I don't really understand them, but you can do amazing things, so I got to wondering. Can you make me human?"

"Huh. I gotta admit, I did not see that coming."

"Yeah, it was a little surprising to me too," Angel said, "But can you do it?"

"Well, I don't see why not, you're soul is already in place. Really, it's a simple transmogrification. Are you sure this is what you want? You won't be able to patrol with Buffy, anymore."

"I've been thinking about it for weeks, And as a vampire I'm immortal, I can never truly be with her. I can't give her a normal life, or children. I need this."

Xander sighed heavily. "It seems you have truly thought it through. Alright. Good luck."

Xander raised his arm, and positioned his fingers for a snap. "Ready?"

"I am."

"Alright. Here goes nothing." He snapped.

There was a flash of light, then Angel fell back, catching himself on a tombstone. "I feel..."

"Weak?" Xander asked. Angel nodded. "Welcome to the human condition. A few things to think about, no more fighting vampires, without Buffy or Anne around, you're flesh and bone, you can die now. And for the love of god, if you sleep with her, practice safe sex, you're able to get her pregnant now. I'll port you back to your apartment, I suggest you stay in till daybreak, for safety. And you'll need sleep soon, the transformation left you low on energy."

"Thank you." Angel said, sounding emotional for the first time since Xander had known the man.

Xander snapped his fingers, and Angel vanished in a flash, reappearing in his apartment. Xander himself disappeared in a bright flash, reappearing at Anne's location.

"Hi sweety," She said. "What was that all about?"

"I think it's meant to be a surprise. You'll find out tomorrow." She was looking forward to it.

The next day, after classes, Xander and Anne were in the library, sitting in reclining massage chairs, waiting for their friends to arrive.

"I don't know why I didn't get one of these long ago." Moaned Anne, as the chair massaged her back and feet. Moments later, Buffy and Willow strolled into the library.

"Ooo, I wand a go in the chair." Buffy said. Xander snapped his fingers, and two more chairs appeared for them. The two girls were both moaning as the chairs worked, when the library doors opened, and in strolled Angel.

"Angel?" Buffy asked, standing from the chair. "But it's mid day."

He held out his arms as he approached, taking her into a hug.

"Your heart, it's-" She started.

"Beating." He finished for her, "I'm human."

"How? How did-"

"Xander." He answered, "Now we can be together for the rest our lives."

Xander seemed to be the only one to notice her flinch.

"This calls for a celebration." Willow decreed.

"Let's go to the bronze tonight." Anne added.

"Don't forget to patrol." Giles commented.

"Aw, Giles, gotta ruin our fun." Willow said.

As the night progressed, they could tell Buffy was in a bad mood, and kept glaring at Xander.

After partying at the bronze, they prepared to head to the cemeteries for patrol, when Buffy turned to Angel. "What do you think you are doing?"

He looked at her as if it was obvious, "Going on patrol."

"Not as a human you aren't. You'll get hurt."

"But Buffy." He started.

"Don't 'but Buffy' me. You just turned human, I don't want you dying already. I'm going to walk you home." She turned to Xander and Anne, "I'll meet up with you guys in a bit."

The two walked through the cemetery, Xander watching as Anne beat up vampires, occasionally killing one if needed, when Anne turned. "What do you think that was all about?"

"What?" Xander asked.

"Buffy. She was acting strange."

"Oh, I think it had to do with what Angel said. 'We can spend the rest of our lives together.' She seemed freaked."

"Why would she, though, I thought she loved him."

"You want my honest opinion? Their relationship has always had a sell by date. I mean she's getting older, he isn't, so really how long can they possibly stay together. Thing is she probably never put any real though into the future, especially being the slayer, what with usually having short lives. Then he goes and says something like 'rest of our lives.' It makes it all real for her and she's freaking out."

Anne kissed Xander. "When did you get so smart?"

"Halloween." He answered, "An IQ score of one forty five to one fifty nine is genus. Mine is over two thousand, so you can imagine what it's like in my head."

"Wow... But what about me? Buffy and I are the same person, but the thought of spending the rest of my life with you doesn't freak me out."

"As much as you are the same, you are different people. A lot can happen in a year to change you, and there's a year difference. Also... Really?" Xander asked, grinning.

"Of course, stupid. I love you so much."

"Well I love you too. Which is why this is so hard. I'm immortal. Not like angel, I can't die, not really."

Buffy looked heartbroken. "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do about that. I am Q. I can appear to age, though, so I can spend the rest of your lifespan with you. Unless..."

"What?" She asked, hopefully.

"I make you Q as well."

"Wow. That's... That's huge." Buffy said, breathless, "I'd need to think about it."

Xander smiled at her. "Take all the time you need."

It was two days later, that they were discussing sex in teen health class, and were assigned eggs to represent babies. Xander paired up with Anne. After classes let out, they were in the library, when Xander tapped the top of his egg, which flashed brightly for a moment.

"What'd you do?" Anne asked.

"Made the egg unbreakable. No failing for us."

"That's so cheating." Willow said. "Can you do mine too?"

"And mine?" Buffy asked.

Xander snapped his finger making all their eggs unbreakable, which was good, because Giles dropped a heavy book on top of Buffy's egg.

"Hey, watch out, that's my baby." She cried, pulling her undamaged egg from under the book.

He explained about the Gorch brothers, two vampires, that slaughtered a Mexico town before becoming undead. Luckily they weren't the sharpest pencils in the box. Buffy had run into one of them the night before, at the mall.

"If you want, we can go somewhere nice and sunny, and I can summon them up, they'll burn nice and crispy like." They went to the empty courtyard, Buffy and Anne armed with swords.

"Ready?" Xander asked. His friends and Giles nodded, so he raised his arm and snapped his fingers. In two flashes of light stood Lyle and Tector Gorch. They started to smoke and scream, running for the edge of the courtyard. Alas, they didn't make it, bursting into flames, then into dust before they made it.

"Easy." Xander said, before returning to the library.

That night, Buffy was in her room, having just returned from patrol, when she noticed her egg moving. It was twitching, and shaking. She was worried it was trying to hatch, when she remembered it was unbreakable. She crossed the hall to Anne's room, and tapped on the door.

"Anne?" She asked, as she opened the door. Anne was still in her slaying outfit, having just returned from patrol with Buffy and Xander. "Is your egg doing anything weird?"

"I dunno, Xander has it." She looked up to the ceiling. "Xander?"

"I heard my name." Came a voice from behind them. They both spun to find him lounging on Anne's bed.

"Hey, babe." Anne said.

"Hi honey." He said in return.

"Is your egg doing anything funny?" Buffy asked, "Cause mine is moving. It looks like it's trying to hatch, but can't."

"Moving?" Xander asked. She held up the egg, which he stared at intensely for a moment. "Oh, it's a bezoar. It's the hatchling of a demon creature that takes control of people's bodies."

"So what do we do?" Anne asked.

"We kill the mama bezoar. That'll free the people it's taken control of. I'll take this," He said, taking the egg, "And you two get some sleep. Tomorrow we go bezoar hunting."

He flashed away, reappearing in Willow's bedroom. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book. She looked up when he appeared.

"Hey Xander."

"Hi Wills. We have a small situation with our eggs."

"Situation?"

"They are actually the spawn of a demon. I need to take your egg. The thing inside can't hatch, but it's still best I take it away."

"Oh, okay." She handed the egg over, and he wished her a good night, before vanishing in a flash.

The next day, they met up at the library. Xander carefully studied each of them, with his metasense, to know whether or not they'd been taken host by a bezoar. Luckily, none of them had. Anne, Buffy, and Willow armed themselves with stuff from the weapon chest, before following Xander to the basement of the school. He led them to a hole in the wall, leading to a tunnel. They could hear the sound of digging coming from within. They followed Xander in. It was filled with people they recognized, students and adults alike.

"Mom?" Buffy muttered. Her mom looked up from her work.

"Kill them." She instructed in a monotone voice. Cordelia Chase turned to attack them with a pick axe. Xander stepped forward, and snapped his fingers. All of the humans vanished in flashes of light.

"I sent them to the library, we don't have much time until they get back. I can't free them from the living bezoar babies, with damaging their minds. Kill the mother."

He waved both hands outward, causing the wall before them to rip away, showing a slimy pink creature with one eye.

"Um... Ladies first." Willow said. Anne and Buffy lunged forward with their swords, attacking the bezoar mother. The creature roared, and began to scuttle away, sinking under the water.

"I got this." Buffy said, and dived into the water. A moment later the creature roared, then Buffy's head broke the surface. She was covered in slime, and grabbed Anne's offered hand, who pulled her from the disgusting water. The four monster hunters retreated from the basement, and found the people that Xander had teleported away lying unconscious in the hallway. Anne and Buffy ran to their mom, while Willow and Xander went to Giles.

"Wakey wakey, big guy." Xander said. Giles slowly opened his eyes. Xander and Willow helped him stand. Giles then explained to the others who are just waking up that there was a gas leak, even though he had no idea what really happened. Xander promised he'd explain later.

Anne and Xander were sitting in a cafe in Italy, quietly enjoying their meal, when Anne finally spoke.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"Hmm?" Xander asked.

"I know something is bothering you."

"You know me too well." He sighed. "it's just I have all these powers, I feel like I'm not doing enough. Killing a few vamps each night, and stopping the occasional plot. I can remake the cosmos if I wanted to, shouldn't I be doing something... I dunno... Bigger?"

"You're saving lives, Xan. Using your abilities to fight the good fight, just like me, and just like Buffy. That's all you need to do."

He sighed heavily. "I guess you're right. I just feel like I could do more."


	5. Chapter 05 – Platform One

AN: This chapter is a Doctor Who Crossover.

Chapter 05 – Platform One

"I don't know what to do." Buffy said. "I love him, but ever since he turned human, there's something missing in our relationship."

"You're scared." Anne declared.

"Scared of what?"

"The future. He turned human so he could be with you forever, and it terrifies you."

"I'm a horrible person, aren't I." Buffy asked.

"No," Anne replied, "Of course not, you're just human."

Anne was finally adjusting to the idea of talking to what was basically herself. She liked having a sister, and as things changed from her home universe, she was having new experiences, instead of repeating the same things again. Like Buffy's issues with angel. When Anne was back in her home universe, she was with Xander, so she didn't have the problems, that Buffy was now having.

"I have a date with Xander tonight." Anne said.

"Oh, where's he taking you?"

"We're going to the end of the world."

"What?" Buffy asked, amazed and slightly frightened.

"He's taking me to the year five billion, to watch the Sun expand."

"Romantic." Buffy dead panned.

"Hey, don't mock it. I'm looking forward to it."

After their talk, Anne spent some time dressing semi-formally, for her date, before being picked up by Xander. He appeared in a flash, dressed in a sports coat over a blue button up shirt, and slacks.

"You ready?"

"For you? Always." He took her hand, and they vanished in a bright flash.

An announcement started playing over the loudspeakers of platform one.

"I can't understand them." Anne said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." He pressed his finger tip to her forehead."

"- are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine Followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."

"I gave you what is the equivalent of a telepathic translator in your head." Xander explained. Anne didn't know what that meant, but figured he wouldn't have done it if it weren't safe.

Xander led Anne over to a window where they could see the sun and the earth.

"Wow." Anne said. "That's... That's the earth."

"We're in the year five billion. This is Platform one, a viewing platform for events of this nature. They move the platform from one event to another, so people can watch things like this."

"When you say people, you mean..."

"Aliens. Well, rich aliens. Because the human race has spread out across the stars, and found thousands of alien life forms out there."

"And I'm going to get to meet them?"

"Yes you are."

"How do they know when the sun is going to..." She gestured with her hands.

"Expand. See down there?" Xander pointed to small objects orbiting the sun. "Those are gravity satellites, holding back the sun, but the money has run out, so they are shutting down, letting the sun expand on queue."

"The earth still looks the same as ever." Anne observed.

"That's a classic Earth. The continents shifted over time, but The National Trust shifted them back."

"What about all the people?"

"All moved away. There are human colonies all over the galaxy. The earth is empty."

They started walking, heading for the main viewing hall, where all the people were congregating. As they approached, Xander stopped Anne.

"We need to wait to be announced, before entering."

A man's voice called out the first attendees. "We have in attendance the Doctor and Rose Tyler. Thank you. All staff to their positions.

"Hurry, now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa.

Anne watched amazed as three people with bark for skin walked past them, and entered the hall.

"They're walking trees."

"Don't stare, think about what you look like to them, all pink and yellow." Anne just scoffed.

"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you could keep the room circulating, thank you. Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon."

"He's blue." Anne commented, as a small alien in a round chair type of thing rolled by.

"Yup. Alien."

"And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme."

Xander snapped his fingers, then took Anne's hand.

"Next up, we have Q, and Anne Summers."

"That's us." Xander said, as he led Anne into the hall. The Aliens inside were mingling, and moving about the room meeting with one another.

The steward continued to announce guests, as Xander and Anne approached the first guests around the room. The man was in his forties, who wore buzz cut hair and a leather jacket, while the girl couldn't have been more then 20, and blonde.

"Hello, I'm Anne," She introduced "And this is... Q, apparently."

"I'm The Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler."

Xander reached into his coat pocket, "I bring from Earth, an authentic vampire fang."

He pulled one out, and passed it to the man in the leather coat.

"Really?" The Doctor asked, intrigued, and with a ear to ear grin. "It's been a long time since I've crossed paths with a vampire.

"In return I give air from my lungs." The Doctor said, before exhaling heavily at them.

Anne and Xander moved on toward the next group. "He knows about vampires?" Anne asked.

"Humans aren't the only things to make it to the stars."

They continued around the room passing out vampire fangs to the guests, and getting gifts in return. Soon, Anne was carrying a plant clipping, a silver metallic sphere, and she'd been spit on by the blue alien.

"And last but not least," Called the steward, "Our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen, and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last Human. The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

They watched as a frame with skin stretched on it with a face was rolled into the room.

"Oh, now, don't stare." Said the skin, named Cassandra, "I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturise me. Moisturise me."

Cassandra's attendants turned and sprayed her with water from long stemmed bottles.

"What has to happen to turn a human into that?" Anne asked rhetorically.

Xander answered anyway. "She's had oh... seven hundred surgeries."

"Truly, I am the last Human." Cassandra continued, "My father was a Texan, my mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and say goodbye. Oh, no tears, no tears. I'm sorry. But behold, I bring gifts. From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend says it had a wingspan of fifty feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband? Oh, no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity."

A group of the small blue attendant aliens rolled in a 50's jukebox.

"According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on!"

'Tainted love' by Soft Cell began to play from the jukebox.

"Seriously?" Anne asked.

"I know, right."

"How did she get so much wrong?"

"Five billion years, they are just rumors, now."

"Refreshments will now be served." Stated the Steward, "Earth Death in thirty minutes."

Anne and Xander mingled with the aliens, and Xander was amazed at how well she was getting along with people who looked so much different then her. He just figured that after seeing demons nothing shocked her.

Xander had just finished up a conversation with The Face of Boe, when he and Anne left the room, as she wanted to explore the rest of the platform. They were walking down a corridor, when they heard a metallic thump and a girl cry out. They ran around the corner to find Rose Tyler being dragged off by The Adherence of the Repeated Meme.

"What are you doing?" Anne asked them, "Leave her alone."

One of the Adherence raised their arm and swung it at her. She blocked it with her forearm, and kicked the Adherence away from her. Facing opposition, the one dragging Rose dropped her, and together, they moved on Anne.

Anne swung a punch on one Adherence, before kicking another. She fought ferociously, and soon all five were on the ground, sparks and smoke coming from them.

Anne bent over Rose and slapped her face lightly, but didn't get a response. Xander snapped his fingers, creating a ball of water above her head, that immediately fell on her. She woke with a start.

"Are you alright?" Anne asked.

"Yeah, Mah head." She complained in a thick British accent, rubbing the back of her head.

Xander inspected the downed and smoking adherence. "Huh." He said, "They were remote controlled droids.

"I've been avoiding looking too closely at events here, so I could enjoy our date, but I think it's time I did." Xander said, before he took a moment to use his omniscience to see what was going on.

"Oh, sabotage." He explained, "Lady Cassandra has set this station up to get blown up when the sun expands."

"We gotta tell The Doctor," Rose said, "He'll fix it."

Xander just rolled his eyes, "Okay, we'll tell The Doctor."

Xander and the two blondes returned to the main viewing room, about the same time as The Doctor and Jabe the tree.

"The metal machine confirms." Jabe was saying, "The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One."

The Doctor was holding a robotic spider.

"How's that possible?" Cassandra asked, "Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturise me, moisturise me."

"Summon the Steward!" Cried the Moxx of Balhoon.

"I'm afraid the steward is dead." There were gasps and everyone started murmuring amongst themselves.

"Who killed him?" The Moxx of Balhoon asked.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe." Cassandra pointed out, "He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face."

"Easy way of finding out. Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master." The Doctor put the spider on the floor, and gave it a little push. It of course ran right to Cassandra. She looked around, confused as she noticed for the first time that her droids were missing.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!" Her attendants, stood at attention, holding their spray bottles like guns.

"What are you going to do?" The Doctor asked, "Moisturise me?"

"With acid." Xander was ready to vanish the two aides, but he wanted to see this 'Doctor' in action. "Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face."

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it?" The Doctor pointed out, "How stupid's that?"

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

"Five billion years, and it still comes down to money."

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours."

"Arrest her!" Cried the Moxx of Balhoon, "The infidel!"

"Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option."

"Earth Death in three minutes." A computerized voice announced.

"And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."

"Then you'll burn with us." Jabe declared.

"Tell me you can stop this." Anne said. Xander just grinned at her, reassuring her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Announced Cassandra, "I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders, activate."

A series of explosion rattled the viewing platform.

"Force-fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me."

The computer voice spoke again, "Safety systems failing."

"Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings." Cassandra and her two attendants vanished in a bright teleport beam.

"Heat levels rising." The Computer announced.

"Reset the computer!" The Moxx of Balhoon cried.

"Only the Steward would know how." Jabe pointed out.

"No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, Rose, come on. You lot, just chill."

Xander and Anne followed The Doctor, Rose, and Jabe into the corridor. As they walked, The Doctor turned to them. "Sorry. Who are you?"

"Q and Anne." She reminded him. "We met earlier."

"They saved me," Rose explained, "I was attacked by... what did you call them?"

Xander answered her, "Remote control droids. The Adherence of the Repeated Meme, working for Cassandra."

"Thank you for helping Rose," The Doctor said, "But what are you doing here?"

"We want to save the station as much as you do." Anne explained. "We can help."

"How about we take a short cut?" Xander asked. The five people vanished in a flash of light, reappearing in the maintenance bay, a room filled with massive fans.

"How did you do that?" The Doctor asked.

"I am Q." Xander answered simply. The Doctor stared at him for a moment, before turning away to look for the system restore switch.

"Earth death in two minutes, Heat levels critical." The Computer announced.

"Oh. And guess where the switch is." The Doctor commented, pointing.

"Of course." Anne added, "On the other side of the razor sharp fan blades."

"Heat levels rising." The computer informed them, "Heat levels rising. External temperature five thousand degrees."

The Doctor pulled a switch on the wall, and the fans slowed, but they sped up as soon as he released it. Jabe held the switch, and The Doctor started to argue with her about the heat coming through, and hurting her. Finally, Jabe turned to The Doctor, and spoke.

"Then stop wasting time, Time Lord."

"Oohhh," Xander realized, "he's a Time Lord."

Filing that information away for later, Anne turned to Xander.

"Can you pop over to the switch?"

"Sure." He replied. Grinning at The Doctor, he spoke again, "You're going to like this."

In a flash of light, Xander was on the other side of the fans. He pulled the system restore switch, and commanded the computer to raise the shields.

Then, there were five bright flashes, and the group was back in the viewing room. They watched as the sun expanded, engulfing the Earth.

"We didn't miss it." Rose said happily.

'Now it's time to get Cassandra' Xander thought. There was a flash in front of them, and there stood the frame holding the stretch of skin.

"And then I said... Oh." She finished, realizing she was back on the platform.

"The Last Human." The Doctor said.

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club."

"You killed people, Cassandra." Xander interrupted.

"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter-"

"And creak?" The Doctor asked.

"And what?" Questioned Cassandra.

"Creak. You're creaking."

"What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturise me, moisturise me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature." Anne pointed out.

"Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything."

Xander snapped his fingers, and there was a flash of light and the skin was gone. Lying on the floor in it's place was a human body.

"I'm... I'm round. What have you done to me?"

"I've given you your body back." Xander informed her, "Say good bye, Cassandra. You're going away for a long long time."

He snapped his fingers, and she vanished in a flash of light.

"Where'd you send her?" Anne asked.

"To the lunar penal colony on Matraxie 3, where she can live out the rest of her life behind bars."

"Good riddance." Anne commented.

Now that the drama was over, they enjoyed drinks in the Manchester sweet, before returning to the viewing room that they had first arrived in.

Anne spoke first. "You seemed surprised that he was a... what did you call him?"

"Time Lord. The Time Lords were a rather pompous species, not quite unlike the Q. There was a war, and they wiped themselves from existence. The Doctor is literally the last of his kind, alone in the universe."

"Depressing life."

"That's why he travels with companions. The girl he was with, Rose, she's human. He picked her up in the past, in your time."

Anne quirked an eyebrow at the way he said 'your time' not 'our time' but didn't bring it up.

"You ready to go home?" Xander asked.

"Sure," Anne answered.

In a bright flash of light, they were standing in front of the Summers house in Sunnydale.

"Back home." Anne said, before turning to Xander. "How do I do it, go back to my life after seeing space, and aliens, and stuff?"

"By remembering, you have a duty to save lives here in Sunnydale. Also, know that there's so much more out there, and I'm going to take you to see it all."


	6. Chapter 06 - Portents

Chapter 06 - Portents

"I had a horrible nightmare that Angel was attacked and bitten by Drusilla." Buffy said, to explain her lack of sleep. She was sitting on the stairs, between classes, Giles leaning on the wall next to her.

"You fear it was more of a, a... a portent?" Giles asked.

"See, I don't know. I don't wanna start a big freakout over nothing. Xander says that Drusilla is alive, and I'm apt to believe him. After all, he would know. So I'm scared."

"Uh, don't worry unduly, Buffy. I-I-I'm sure it's nothing."

"I know. I should keep my Slayer cool, but... it's Angel, which automatically equals maxi-wig."

Jennifer Calendar entered her office, and was surprised to see a man inside.

"You startled me."

"You look well," The man said.

"Yes, I'm fine. I know I haven't written as much lately. I've been busy."

"I cannot imagine what is so important to make you ignore the responsibility to your people."

"Well, I've been working and..."

"The elder woman has been reading signs. Something is different. Our revenge is gone."

Jennifer sighed heavily. She didn't know how to tell them. "There is a boy, with great power, great magic. He turned Angel human."

"How can this be? The elder woman claims that Angelus is returning."

"That's impossible."

"The elder woman is never wrong."

"He is happy now. I thought..."

"You thought what?! You thought you are Jenny Calendar now?! You are still Janna, of the Kalderash people! A Gypsy."

"I know uncle... I know. If Angelus is returning, I need the original curse to give him his soul back."

"It will be delivered to you, for what little good it will do. It is in the language of the ancient Romani. Not even the Elder woman knows the language."

"I'll figure something out."

That evening it was Jenny's duty to get Anne and Buffy to the bronze for their surprise birthday party. Anne already knew about the party, having lived this before, so she was to help get Buffy there. Unfortunately, they ran into vamp trouble outside, which ended up with Buffy and a vamp going through the window of the bronze, and fighting inside, in front of all their friends including Oz, who was Willow's date, and didn't know about the supernatural. Buffy staked the vamp turning him to dust.

"Surprise!" Called Cordelia.

"Pretty much sums it up." Oz said.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Angel asked, going to her quickly.

"Uh, there were these vamps outs..." She looked around, "W-what's going on?"

"Oh, um... A surprise party." Giles said, before blowing on a party favor.

"You guys did all this for me?" She turned to Angel, "That is so sweet."

"Well, it's a party for Anne also." Xander pointed out, "Same birthday."

"Oh, of course." Buffy said.

"You sure you're okay?" Angel asked.

"Yes I'm fine."

"Are you okay?" Willow asked Oz.

"Yeah." Oz Agreed. "Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn to dust?"

"Uh, well, uh... sort of."

"Yep." Xander said, "Vampires are real. A lot of them live in Sunnydale. Willow will fill you in."

"I know it's hard to accept at first."

Oz grinned, "Actually, it explains a lot."

Jenny came into the bronze holding the box the vampires were transporting.

"Hey, can somebody give me a hand here?" Xander snapped his fingers, causing the box to disappear in a flash, reappearing on the pool table.

"Oh, and Xander is all powerful." Willow said to OZ.

"What is it?" Buffy asked, referencing the box.

"It's a piece of the judge." Anne answered.

"It can't be." Angel declared, "She wouldn't."

Anne nodded, "She did."

"Angel?" Buffy asked.

"It-it's a legend... way before my time... of a demon brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity... separate the righteous from the wicked... and to burn the righteous down. They call him the Judge."

"The judge, this is he?" Giles asked.

"Rather small demon." Buffy commented.

"It's not all of him." Angel replied.

"Um, still needing backstory here." Buffy said.

"He, he, he couldn't be killed, yes? Um, a-an army was sent against him. Most of them died... but, uh, finally they were able to dismember him, but, uh... not kill him."

"The pieces were scattered..." Angel said, "Buried in every corner of the Earth."

"Well there's the problem. They were on earth. I'm getting rid of this thing." Xander snapped his finger, making the box vanish in a flash of light.

"Where'd you send it?" Giles asked.

"Not on earth. It's probably better you don't know."

"Indeed."

"So Drusilla's trying to reassemble the judge." Buffy observed, "Can they do it without that piece?"

"It was an arm." Anne informed them.

"That's the question." Giles said, "Can the Judge awaken missing an arm?"

"Yes." Xander replied, observing the future change thanks to his actions. "Even without the arm, The Judge will awaken, he'll just be weaker then if he were whole. Of course that's meaningless to me."

The group returned to the library to research the Judge, while Anne and Buffy prepped for a fight.

"You ready?" Xander asked.

"Yeah." Anne and Buffy both agreed. In a flash of light, they were standing outside a run down warehouse.

"They're in there." Xander said. "The judge isn't active yet."

They watched as a band of four vamps patrolled past the entrance to the warehouse, and after reaching the edge of the building, turned around, and headed back the opposite direction.

"Let's hit them." The group of three approached the front of the warehouse, and as they did, Xander snapped his fingers, turning the four patrolling vamps to dust.

They entered the warehouse quietly, then saw the boxes spread out on a table. Spike and Drusilla were there, along with about a dozen vamps. Buffy and Anne charged forward, Swords raised high, while Xander strolled in, as if he didn't have a care in the world. While the girls fought, Xander approached the table to inspect the boxes. There were five of them, which made sense. Two legs, one arm, a torso, and a head.

"My kitten has stars running through his veins." Drusilla said, approaching Xander.

"Hello Drusilla."

"My kitten." She said in reply.

"Happy birthday."

"What are you doing talking to the white hat, love?" Spike asked, rolling over to them in his wheelchair. "We should be going."

"He got rid of my present Spike."

"Yes I did." Xander said, "And I'm getting rid of these too. If you don't want to be a jack-in-the-box again, you won't interfere."

Spike rolled backward, fearing Xander's threat.

Xander raised his arm, and snapped his fingers. The Boxes vanished in flashes of light, spread across the cosmos.

The fight ended, Anne and Buffy approaching, stakes in hand.

"Leave them." Xander said, "They have an important future."

"But they're killers." Buffy argued.

"Hmm... good point." He raised his arm, and snapped his fingers again. Spike and Drusilla clutched their heads at the same time.

"What have you done to us?" Spike demanded.

"Just a bit of technology from the future. There's a chip in your brains, that won't let you harm any living human. You're on animal blood from now on."

"Blood hell." Spike muttered.

"Let's go." Xander led Anne and Buffy from the warehouse, and back to the library, where the girls had to explain what Xander did, while he kicked back in a massage chair, being fed Twinkies again.

"You left Spike alive?" Giles asked for the third time.

"He can't hurt anyone anymore, and he has an important future. He's going to switch sides, become a good guy, get a soul, the whole nine yards."

"How?" Buffy asked.

"Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

The next day, they gathered in the library again, with a harried looking Buffy. "Have any of you seen Angel lately?"

"Not since the library last night." Giles said.

"Allow me." Xander commented. He snapped his fingers, and Angel appeared in front of them, but Xander immediately knew there was something wrong. Angel looked around confused for a moment, before his face changed into the vampires predominant raised brow, and he lunged at a shocked Buffy.

He was inches from wrapping his fingers around Buffy's throat, when he flew backward, slamming into the inside of the book cage, that banged shut with him in it. He snarled and threw himself against the cage door, but it held.

"Angel?" Buffy asked.

"Angel's not there anymore." Xander said, "He's a vampire now."

"Buffy, dear sweet Buffy." Angelus said. "You know what the worst part was? Pretending that I loved you."

Xander snapped his fingers, and Angelus could no longer talk. "Don't listen to him."

He turned to Jenny Calendar. "Have you got the spell yet?"

"How did you know about that?" She asked.

Xander grinned. "You seem to forget, I know everything."

Jenny reached into her bag, and pulled out a folder. "I got it, but it's in ancient Romani. I can't read it."

"Anne," Xander said, "Would you like to do the honours?"

She looked at the papers. "It looks like English to me."

"Telepathic translator, remember?"

"I need to be able to read it to cast the spell." Jenny said.

"What spell?" Buffy asked.

Jenny pointed at the paperwork now spread out on the table. "This is the original spell to return a vampire's soul."

Hearing this, Angelus thrashed and kicked at the door, but it didn't give way.

Xander snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, there was a second set of papers, these in English. "There ya go."

Jenny took time reading over the spell. "We need a-"

In a flash of light, Xander was holding an Orb of Thesulah.

"Yes, one of those."

It took a while, but between Willow, Jenny, and Giles they were able to perform the spell. Angel's eyes glowed for a moment, before he collapsed. Buffy ran to the cage, and unlocked it, opening the door. She grabbed angel, and pulled his head into her lap.

"Buffy?" Angel muttered, waking up.

"It's alright." She said, "You're back with us."


	7. Chapter 07 – Werewolves and Spaceships

Chapter 07 – Werewolves and Spaceships

Anne and Xander appeared in a flash of light. They were standing on a hill overlooking a futuristic city, with green grass, and for some reason a blue police box. They stood watching the flying cars zip by overhead, before talking.

"Where are we?" Anne asked.

"It's the year five billion and twenty three. We're in the galaxy M87, and this? This is New Earth. The year five billion, the sun expands, the Earth gets roasted."

"I remember. We saved the day."

"So planet gone, all rocks and dust, but the human race lives on, spread out across the stars. Soon as the Earth burns up they get all nostalgic. There's a big revival movement, and then find this place. Same size as the Earth, same air, same orbit. Lovely. Call goes out, the humans move in."

"What's this city called?"

"This is the city of New New York."

"You're kidding." Anne declared.

"Nope, though technically it's the fifteenth New York since the original."

It had been two weeks since the return of Angel's soul... again, And it had been fairly uneventful. Until today, when Xander took Anne on a trip to the future for a date.

"What's that smell?" She asked.

Xander bent over, plucking a bit of grass from the hill, and holding it out to her. "Applegrass."

She sniffed the grass before speaking, "That's amazing."

"Isn't it just?"

They walked off the hill and into the city. They weren't walking long, before he had to stop her from staring at the local aliens.

"They're... They're cats."

"Yup. They're called the catkind. They run the hospital. See that building over there?" Xander pointed out a building, "The green moon on the side? Universal symbol for hospitals."

They spent the day exploring the city, going into shops, and eating at a quaint little restaurant. Near midday, they were walking near the edge of the city, when they noticed multiple police cars, lights flashing, in front of the hospital.

"Want to check it out?" Xander asked.

"Sure." she replied.

They approached the cop who looked like he was in charge.

"Hello, officer," Xander said, "What seems to be the problem here?"

"The sisterhood." He responded.

"The who?" Anne asked.

"The catkind who run the hospital, are a medical sisterhood." Xander answered. He turned to the officer, "What happened to them?"

"They were experimenting on lab grown humans. The humans, we're calling new-humans, escaped, filled with diseases, and ran rampant in the hospital. Had a couple of Catkind fatalities, before a man calling himself 'The Doctor' managed to cure them all. We're just cleaning up, and registering all the new-humans."

"Ah, thank you officer."

They walked for a minute, before Anne spoke. "He said, The Doctor. Think it was the same man we met?"

"Probably." Xander answered. "We passed his space ship on the way here."

"We did? I don't remember seeing any spaceships."

"Remember the blue wooden box we passed on the hill, said 'Police public call box' on it? That's his ship. It's a disguise to hide it."

"That's kinda brilliant."

"Maybe one day we'll convince him to show us the inside."

"One can only dream."

They spent a few more hours exploring the city before Xander stopped. "I'm being summoned. Care to join me?"

He offered her his hand, which she took. They vanished in a flash, reappearing in the parking lot in front of Sunnydale high school.

"Hi sis." Anne said.

"Hi Giles. Cordy." Xander greeted. "What's the what?"

"Wild animal attack. Possibly a werewolf."

Xander inspected the damage to Cordy's fathers car. The fabric top was shredded. "Oh yeah, definitely a werewolf. And you're not going to like who it is. Let's convene the group in the library."

Ten minutes later Giles, Xander, Buffy, Anne, Willow Cordelia, and Oz were sitting around the table in the library.

"So who is it?" Cordy asked, "Who's the werewolf?"

"Let me ask you a question, Oz." Xander started, "Has anything strange happened to you lately?"

"Now that you mention it, I did wake up in the woods this morning."

Willow gasped, looking at Xander. "Oh no! Oz?"

"Yep. It's okay, though. I can fix him." He turned to the currently red haired boy. "Oz, why don't you get in the book cage, while we do this."

"Cool." He was a boy of few words. He got into the book cage, and locked the door behind himself. Xander snapped his fingers, and Oz was gone in a flash of light. In his place was the werewolf. The creature growled, before throwing itself against the door. Luckily it held. The door had been reinforced for causes such as this. It's also why it held against Angelus.

Willow gasped at seeing Oz as the werewolf.

"Alright, first, control." He snapped his fingers, and the werewolf calmed. "Oz, can you hear me?"

The werewolf nodded his head.

"Good. Now let's do something about your form, cause you are quite honestly, quite ugly... No offense." He snapped his fingers again, and the werewolf flashed. In it's place now was a giant wolf. A wolf the size of a Clydesdale horse.

"Alright Oz, I gave you full control. Try to switch back."

The transformation was a lot smother then with regular werewolves, one second he was a wolf, then there was a ripple of flesh, and he was a boy, still wearing his own clothes.

"Yes, I figured you wouldn't want to be naked when you transform, so your clothes go along for the ride. You can now transform any time, you aren't ruled by the moon."

"Thank you." Oz said.

"No prob. I figured this would be better then just curing you. As the wolf you are faster and stronger then human, you also heal faster. This way you can fight vamps if you want. You are now a spirit magic based shape-shifter."

"I've never heard of such a thing." Giles said.

"That's cause they don't exhist, at least not in this reality."

"Now... There's a man that's going to be running around Sunnydale tonight, hunting the werewolf. He sells the pelts in shri-lanka."

"He hunt's werewolves for sport?" Giles asked.

"He's in it purely for the money." Xander replied.

Giles voice held a bit of growl when he spoke, "Despicable."

Xander nodded, "We'll go hunting tonight, and find him."

"Why don't you just pop him here?" Anne asked.

Xander grinned at her, "Cause then you all would get lazy."

She smacked his arm, but she did see his point.

That night, Buffy, Anne and Xander went to the top of the hill, where teens go to park and make out, led there by Xander, who told them that's where Cain (the werewolf hunter) would be.

They wandered for a bit before suddenly there was a metallic rattle sound, and Buffy was caught in a net, hanging six feet off the ground.

"Hey!" Buffy cried.

"Buffy!" Anne cried.

"Ah, Gotcha!" A man in khaki clothing stepped out of the bushes, aiming a gun at Buffy.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Xander said.

The hunter saw that it wasn't a werewolf in the net, and looked pretty upset about it. "What the hell?"

"Before we start with the questions, how about we do something about me being in this net thing?"

The hunter cut the rope feeding the net, and Buffy dropped painfully to the ground. At least it would have been painful, if Xander hadn't upgraded her.

"This is Cain." Xander informed them, as Buffy stood to her feet.

"Oh, you've heard of me? Well I guess I do have a bit of a reputation."

"We're here to stop you from hunting werewolves." Buffy said.

"And how are you going to do that, sweetheart?"

Buffy ripped the gun from his hands, and bent the barrel into a 'U', before shoving it back into his arms. Cain stared at her in shock. " How about you let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of town?"

Cain grumbled, as he walked off into the brush. Buffy and Anne turned to walk away, so neither of them noticed as Cain disappeared in a flash of light.


	8. Chapter 08 – What's One More Between Fri

Chapter 08 – What's One More Between Friends

It had been a busy month for the Scooby gang, including a demon at the hospital, two ghost in the school possessing students, a gym coach turning the swim team into fish monsters, and Xander destroying the remains of the demon Acathla but they finally had down time, and they were all using it to the best. Anne, Buffy and Xander still had to patrol, but that only took up their nights. Their days, when not busy with school, were filled with movie watching, and dates with their romantic partners. Buffy and Angel were still together, but now she was second guessing their relationship. Her fear of the future was gone now that Angel was a vampire again, but Angel hadn't yet asked Xander to secure his soul, so they couldn't move forward in their relationship.

Finally came the summer, and the plans that the girls had for it.

"Are you sure?" Anne asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Xander replied. "Go, have a good time. Oz and I can handle a few vamps while you are away. We'll be fine. He heals fast, and it's not like they can kill me."

"Don't even joke about that. I'm always worried about you."

"Don't be. Unkillable, that's me."

Anne seemed unsure about something for a moment, before she made a decision. They were in Xander's bedroom in his mansion, so he was surprised when Anne pushed him back on the bed.

"How about I give you something to remember me by, while I'm gone?"

Two hours later, he was curled up next to a naked Anne, thinking about how that was their first time together, and how beautiful she looked while sleeping. He didn't need to sleep, but was capable of it, if he wanted to. But not now, now he was enjoying watching Anne sleep.

The next morning, she and Buffy had left. They were spending the summer with their father in LA. Xander left Anne alone for two weeks, before he missed her too much, so he popped over to LA, to visit her.

He appeared in a flash in front of her fathers house and knocked on the door. A tall balding man answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi." Xander said, "You must be Mister Summers, My name is Xander. Is Anne here?"

The man, presumably Hank Summers, stared at him for a moment, before capitulating. "Anne! Someone is at the door for you."

The man stood there staring at Xander, until Anne arrived at the door.

"Xander hi!" She turned to her father, "Daddy, this is Xander. My boyfriend."

Her father grumbled, Xander figured him to be the overly protective sort, then spoke again.

"Well it's good to meet you."

"Thank you, sir. You too."

Hank stepped away leaving Anne at the door alone with Xander.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought I could go the whole summer without seeing you, but I missed you too much."

"Aww, that's so sweet. Let me get my purse, and we'll go out."

She ran up the stairs to her bedroom, then stopped by Buffy's room.

"Buffy, Xander is here, and we're going out. I'll be back later."

"He came all the way here to see you? That's so sweet." She sighed heavily. "Angel hasn't come to see me."

"It's not as easy for Angel as it is for Xander." Anne noted.

"Yeah, but doesn't he miss me? It's only two hours by car. Or he can ask Xander to bring him here." She sighed again, "It's okay, go. Have a good time."

"Are you sure?" Anne asked.

"Definitely. Tell Xander I said hi."

Anne ran down the stairs, said goodbye to her father, then went with Xander. They walked the neighborhood, while Anne showed Xander all the places that have good memories from her childhood. She showed him the high school she went to before moving to Sunnydale, and the cemetery where she got her first vampire kill. Lastly they went to her favorite restaurant and had dinner. They returned to her fathers house, and kissed goodbye.

"Thank you for coming to see me." Anne said.

"Don't thank me. I'd go anywhere and anytime to be with you."

He visited Anne numerous times while she was in LA, but then finally the summer ended, and the sisters returned home.

It was two days later, that Buffy called Giles to collect an undead cat. Xander was at the Summers house when they found the cat.

"No." Anne said, sounding truly shaken. "It can't be. No."

Xander took her in his arms, and pulled her away from the others. "I know sweety, I got you."

"This is it. This is what killed my friends."

"I know, and I swear to you, it won't happen that way again."

"But we can stop it right now. We destroy the mask, and it all stops."

"No, we can't. This has to happen this way. I won't let anyone die, but this one has to play out. Do you trust me?"

Anne stared at Xander for a moment. "I trust you."

The group went with Giles to the library, where they researched what could cause an undead cat. Buffy asked Xander what was causing it, and Anne looked guilty when Xander answered.

"Sorry Buff, but this one has to be done on your own. It has to play out a certain way, and I can't just give you the answers."

"What certain way?" She asked.

Xander just grinned mysteriously at her. "You'll see."

Later that night, they were all at the Summers home, for a welcome home dinner in the sisters honour. Xander seemed distracted throughout the meal, till part way through, he asked to go to the restroom. Anne was looking shifty and extremely pale, as she knew what's coming, and was scared that she's going to loose her friends all over again, though she trusted Xander to keep them alive.

Xander squeezed her hand under the table, before getting up, and heading for the restroom. As a Q he didn't have to worry about bodily functions anymore. He was made of energy. His human body was a construct he created to interact on the earthly plane.

Once in the bathroom, he locked the door, then vanished in a flash, reappearing in the Sunnydale hospital burn unit. As he watched, the body on the table was declared dead, then moments later, stood up, and moved to attack the surgeons and nurses. Xander snapped his fingers, and the zombie vanished in a flash, reappearing in the park. He then snapped his fingers again, erasing their memories of himself and the victim turned zombie, before vanishing again, reappearing in the restroom at Anne's house. He flushed the toilet, then rejoined his friends and girlfriend (along with Joyce and her friend Pat) at the dinner table.

The telephone began to ring, but Xander willed the line to disconnect before anyone could answer it. Minutes later the enjoyable dinner was ended by the front window shattering as a shambling zombie crawled through the hole. More were following, along with a few trying to break down the door. Anne and Buffy were instantly on their feet, while everyone else reacted slower. Xander sat for a minute, watching Anne fight zombies, before standing himself. While everyone was distracted, he snapped his fingers, teleporting Pat home, and adjusting her memories to think she had too much to drink.

After Pat was gone, he reacted fast, grabbing Cordelia and Willow, and pushing them up the stairs, for their protection. Oz shifted into his wolf form, and started tearing into the zombies, as Anne and Buffy fought, but they were quickly getting overrun. Xander pushed Joyce up the stairs as well, before grabbing Anne and Buffy, and pulling them backward.

"Come on, Oz, fall back!"

Oz followed them as quickly as he could, shifting human again, as his wolf form was too big to fit up the stairs. The sisters fought off the zombies as they ascended the stairs.

"This way!" Xander called, leading everyone into the master bedroom. The Zombies followed them in.

"Xander, get rid of them!" Xander snapped his fingers, and the zombies vanished in multiple flashes of light.

They had a minute to catch their breath, before another wave of zombies attacked. Oz flipped to his wolf self again, and fought hard.

"Is this enough?" Anne asked, Xander.

"Break the mask!" He ordered her.

Anne pulled the Nigerian mask off the wall, and snapped it in half. As soon as the mask was broken, the Zombies all vanished. Moments later, Giles ran into the bedroom.

"Distroy the-" Anne held up the pieces of the broken mask. "Ah."

"Can some one please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Joyce demanded.

"Those were zombies." Xander said.

"Xander!" Buffy cried.

"I think it's time she found out what's really out there." Xander explained.

Anne and Buffy stared at each other for a moment before both sighed heavily.

"Mom..." Buffy spoke up first, "Those were zombies magically animated by that mask. And they aren't the only thing that's real out there."

"Demons, vampires, all the things you never wanted to believe existed, do." Anne said.

Buffy spoke next, "We hunt them, to protect people."

"Buffy and I are vampire slayers. We have super strength and enhanced healing, which helps us, Oz can turn into a wolf, Willow is a witch, and Xander... Well, Xander is an all powerful superbeing."

"I think we should leave the girls alone with their mother for a bit." Giles said.

"Sounds like a good idea. Bye, Misses S." They all exited the bedroom, and headed down the stairs, where Xander snapped his fingers, and they all vanished, reappearing in their individual homes. Before leaving himself, Xander snapped his finger, repairing the damage to the house.

The next day they met up at the library. Immediately all attention was on Xander.

"So do you want to tell me why we couldn't stop that sooner?"

"Seeing was the only way your mother would accept the truth."

"Accept?" Buffy questioned, "She asked if we could stop being slayers."

"Of course she wants you to stop, she's afraid for you. But trust me on this, she thinks her daughters are superheros. She is so very proud of you two, and with time, she will tell you so."

"Yes, but why is it so important that she knows?" Anne asked.

"There are things coming that she wouldn't survive, without knowledge."

"So you were saving our mom's life?" Buffy asked, to which Xander nodded.

"Thank you." Anne said, hugging him tightly, before kissing him.

The next night, Xander, Anne, and Buffy were on the way to the bronze, when Xander stopped. He quickly snapped his fingers. In two flashes of light two people appeared, one a girl that couldn't have been more then fifteen, and the other an older woman with dirty blonde hair going gray at the temples. The older woman was on her knees, blood pouring from a wound on her left temple.

"Oh my god." Buffy cried, as she and Anne ran forward to help the bleeding woman.

"How... How did we get here?" the girl asked.

"I brought you here." Xander said.

"How... how..."

"Don't worry about that right now. Just know that you are safe."

Xander snapped his fingers and in a flash, the woman was all healed.

"Oh, my head." She muttered.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. You're going to have a headache for a little while, but you're all healed."

"Th- Thank you." The woman said.

"But how? One second we were in front of Kakistos, and the next we're... Where are we exactly?"

"This is Sunnydale." Anne answered, as she helped the kneeling woman to her feet.

The older woman gasped.

"I see you know it." Xander said. "My name is Xander, this is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And this is Anne."

Buffy looked at Xander questioningly, wondering why he was telling her secret to two strangers.

"This is Faith," Xander told her, "A future Slayer, if Kendra dies, And this is her watcher, Diana Dormer."

"How do you know this?" Diana asked.

"All will be told in due time. Now I suggest we get out of the street, and head for Buffy's watcher."

Faith and Diana followed Buffy, Anne, and Xander as he led them to Giles' apartment. Once there, Xander snapped his fingers, bringing Willow and Oz there from the Bronze. They were soon sitting around the living room, while Giles and Diana sipped tea. Buffy and Anne were drinking Coffee.

"Well as you've been told," Giles said, "This Is Buffy, the Slayer. This is Anne. She is also a Slayer."

"How is that possible?" Diana asked. "I thought that the other slayer was named... Kendra."

"It's a bit complicated. Basically, Anne is Buffy from-"

"A parallel universe." Xander finished for Giles. "I brought her here."

"How is any of what you can do possible?" Diana asked.

"This past Halloween, a chaos mage performed a spell turning everyone into their costumes."

"I dressed as Q from startrek. Kept the powers after the spell ended."

"Why doesn't the council know any of this?" Diana asked.

"We um... We felt it best they not be informed." Giles stuttered.

"What can you do?" Faith asked Xander.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked in return.

"Can you... Can you make me a slayer?"

Diana gasped at Faith's question.

"Is that really what you want?" Anne asked, "It's not an easy life, being a slayer."

"At least here you'll have friends to fight by your side." Buffy added.

Faith thought about it for a moment while staring at her feet. "Yes, I want to be a Slayer. I spent nearly the last year and a half hearing stories about the great Buffy Summers and what an honour it is to be a Slayer."

At this Anne and Faith glared at Diana.

"I want that for myself." Faith continued.

"Alright," Xander said, "If you're sure." He raised his arm and snapped his fingers. There was a flash and Faith looked up.

"I feel... strong."

"You should." Xander informed her. "You're a Slayer now."


	9. Chapter 09 - Faith and Diana

Chapter 09 - Faith and Diana

"Check out Slut-O-Rama and her Disco Dave." Cordelia noted, pointing at the dance floor of the bronze.

After finishing at Giles' house, Xander led Diana and Faith to his mansion to give them a place to stay. They said they were going to stay in a motel, but Xander refused. He had plenty of space that he barely used, so he offered to let them stay there. Also, Jeeves, the butler, would love to have more work to keep him busy. Then he mentioned meeting up with the group at the bronze, and invited Faith along.

The group looked to where Cordelia was pointing.

"Oh, that's just Faith." Buffy said, watching as Faith was led outside by the man she was dancing with, "Though I don't think that guy thrives on sunshine."

Buffy and Anne put down their drinks, and stood up quickly. Xander stood as well, still sipping his drink slowly. They headed for the door, followed by Willow, Oz, and Cordelia.

They were stopped when a boy from school, named Scott Hope stepped up to talk to Buffy.

"Hi, Buffy."

"Hi Scott." Buffy said, looking toward the door, where Faith and the vampire were just exiting.

"Did you maybe want to dance?" Scott asked.

"I um... I'd like to, but I really can't. Maybe some other time? I- I um," She pointed at the door," I really have to..."

"I understand." Scott said, looking saddened.

Anne and Xander moved past Buffy, as she nervously semi-flirted with Scott, and headed for the door, the others following. They were almost to the door when Buffy caught up.

They ran outside but Faith was nowhere to found.

"Where'd she go?" Buffy asked.

Anne honestly didn't know. This was all new to her. They had caught up to the time she was plucked out of her old universe, and everything coming now was new.

"I bet it's nothing." Cordelia commented, "They're probably just making out."

They heard Faith cry out, and the sound of something breaking.

"That's not what making out sounds like," Willow commented, "unless I'm doing it wrong."

Buffy and Anne lead the way, pulling out stakes, everyone following, and Xander taking another sip of his drink, as he relaxingly made his way to where Faith was.

They came upon her being held against the wall by the vampire, and were about to rush in to help her, when Faith shoved the vamp away, and elbowed him in the face. While the vamp stumbled, Faith jumped off a crate to kick the vamp in the face, throwing him back.

"This Slayer thing rocks!" Faith cried, before kicking the vamp again, then punching him repeatedly, both in the face and stomach. She threw the vamp to the ground, then ran over to where Buffy and Anne were standing.

"Can I borrow that?" She said, plucking the stake from Buffy's hand. She moved back to the vamp, who was just getting to his feet, and staked him in the heart, turning him to dust.

"Thanks, B." Faith said, walking by, as she handed back the stake. "Couldn't have done it without you."

They returned to their table in the bronze, where Faith started telling stories. "The whole summer it was, like, the worst heat wave. So it's about a hundred and eighteen degrees and I'm sleeping without a stitch on."

Xander rolled his eyes. He knew the truth about Faith's stories, and that she was lying through her teeth, to make herself seem cooler, but he didn't interrupt. He remembered the longing in her eyes when she asked to be a Slayer.

"God, I could eat a horse. Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and horny?"

Xander suppressed another eye roll.

"So... she's a slayer, right?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah," Anne answered. "Yeah she is."

"So did Kendra die?"

"No," Anne replied to Cordy, "She didn't, Xander made her a Slayer."

"Why?" Cordy asked. "Don't we have enough Slayers?"

"I had to give her a chance." Xander said.

Anne and Cordy nodded, not knowing he was referencing Faith joining the mayor.

Soon after, Xander escorted Faith back to his mansion, for her to sleep for the night, before he patrolled the graveyards. He knew where the vampires would be, so he didn't have to wander every graveyard, and a simple snap of the fingers made quick work of them.

After that, he teleported himself to his bedroom, where he looked in his full length mirror. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but the Q in him was unimpressed. In a flash he was wearing a Starfleet Captains uniform. He grinned, before talking to himself.

"Nice, but I'd stand out."

In another flash he was wearing a suit and tie.

"Maybe too formal?"

A final flash, and he was wearing a dress shirt, and a brown leather jacket, with the collar pulled up. Happy with his new look. He decided against lying in bed when he didn't need to sleep, he simply jumped forward in time to the next morning.

As the days past, Buffy, Anne, and Xander noticed something wrong with Faith. Her fighting vampires were become more and more violent. Less about slaying, and more about hurting them. It finally came to a head Friday night, when Buffy was patrolling with Faith, while Anne was with Xander.

"Didn't we, um, do this street already?" Faith asked.

"Funny thing about vamps." Buffy replied, "They'll hit a street even after you've been there. It's like they have no manners."

"Mm. You've been doing this the longest."

"I have." Buffy agreed.

"Yeah. Maybe a little too long."

Buffy turned to Faith, "Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Faith said.

"You got a problem?" Buffy asked her.

"I'm five-by-five, B, living entirely large, actually wondering about your problem."

"Well, I may not sleep in the nude and rassle alligators..."

"Maybe it's time you started, 'cause obviously something in your bottle needs uncorking. What is it, the Angel thing?"

"What do you know about Angel?"

Only what your friends have told me. You get what you always wanted, and still aren't happy. You outta deal and move on, but you're not."

"I got an idea: how about from now on, we don't hear from you on Angel or anything else in my life. Which, by the way, is my life."

"What are you getting so strung out for, B?"

"Why are your lips still moving, F?"

"Did I just hear a threat?" Faith asked.

"Would you like to?" Buffy retorted.

"Wow. Think you can take me?"

"Yeah." Buffy looked over Faith's shoulder, "I just hope they can't."

Buffy shoved Faith aside as a vampire charged them, receiving a punch to the gut from Buffy for his troubles. Two more vamps charged in to the fray, one taking on Faith, while the second teamed up with the original vamp to fight Buffy. Faith shoved a trash can over the head of her vamp, tossing him into the wall, before removing the can, and starting to punch him over and over again. Buffy, meanwhile was thrown down and punched by the two vamps. She logically knew she healed too fast for them to hurt her, thanks to Xander's upgrade, but she was still afraid.

"Faith! Stake him already and give me a hand!"

"This is me, you undead bastard!" Faith screamed at the vamp, as she kept punching him.

Buffy kicked, but wasn't able to free herself from the vampires grip.

"For Kakistos we live! For Kakistos you'll die!" One of the vamps said.

Buffy clawed, trying to get away, but was unable to.

"Faith!"

Faith ignored her, continuing to punch the vampire.

Buffy decided on her last resort. "Xander!" She cried.

Suddenly the two vampires above her exploded into dust. She rolled over, to find Xander standing over her offering her his hand.

"Are you okay, Buffy?" He asked.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm alright... No thanks to her." She walked over to where Faith was still punching the vampire, and shoved her aside, staking the vamp she was wailing on.

"What is wrong with you?" Buffy demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Faith inquired.

"I'm talking about you 'living large' on that vampire!"

"Gee, if doing violence to vampires upsets you, I think you're in the wrong line of work!"

"Yeah, or maybe you like it a little too much."

"I was getting the job done." Faith assured her.

"The job is to slay demons! Not beat them to a bloody pulp while their friends corner me!"

"I thought you could handle yourself." Faith said, before walking off.

Xander waited until Faith was out of hearing range, before commenting. "For what it's worth, I agree with you on this one."

The next day, Anne joined Buffy and Xander as they went to Giles, to talk about Faith's actions. After a bit of talking, he agreed to talk to Diana about it.

"The, um, vampires that attacked you, can you furnish me with some details that might help me trace their lineage? I mean, ancient or-or-or modern dress. Amulets, cultish tattoos..."

"Uh, no tats. Crappy dressers. And, uh... Oh, the one that nearly bit me mentioned something about kissing toast. He lived for kissing toast."

"It was Kakistos." Xander clarified.

"Is that bad?" Anne asked.

"'Kakistos' is Greek. It means the worst of the worst. Giles explained, as he moved behind the counter in the library. "It's also the name of a vampire so old that his hands and feet are cloven."

"He's the vamp in Boston that I pulled Faith and Diana away from." Xander said, "He's here, in town looking for them."

Buffy, Anne, and Xander left the library, heading for his mansion, where Faith and Diana were staying. They confronted Faith and Diana with the information that Kakistos is in town. Faith looked panicked, and started to pack a bag, insisting Diana do the same.

"Faith, you don't have to run." Buffy said, "You're a Slayer now, you can kill him."

Xander figured that he could just drop Kakistos somewhere sunny, but knew that Faith had to kill him for her own mental health.

"You are strong enough to stand up to him, now." Buffy continued.

"You really think I can?" Faith asked.

"You can kill him, Faith," Diana said, "It's what slayers do."

"Yeah," Faith agreed, "Yeah, I can do this."

That night, they were gathered in the Library, Anne, Buffy, and Faith armed with swords, when Xander snapped his fingers, causing Kakistos to appear in a flash in front of them.

"What?" The creature asked, before spotting the brunet slayer. "Faith. You escaped me once, I won't let you do so again."

"No more running," Faith said, giving herself a pep talk, "I'm an slayer now, and I'm going to kill you."

She swung the sword, but Kakistos caught it, pulling it from Faith's hands, before hitting her, tossing her across the room. Anne raised her sword, but Xander stopped her.

"She can do this."

Faith was on her feet quickly, punching Kakistos twice, before kicking him back smashing the wooden table. Faith scooped up the broken table leg, and jammed it into Kikistos' chest, turning him to dust.

"I told you that you could do it." Buffy said, as Diana approached Faith, giving her a hug of encouragement.

The next morning, the whole group was gathered in the Library, when Diana spoke up.

"We discussed it after returning home last night, and feel that Sunnydale already has two slayers. It doesn't really need a third. We're returning to Boston, now that Kakistos is dead. It's where Faith can do the most good."

They called a cab to take Faith and Diana to the airport, then went to meet it outside of the school, when Faith pulled Buffy aside. "Thank you B, I couldn't have done what I did last night without you."

"You're a slayer now, Faith, you're one of us."

"Thanks." Faith got into the cab, and it pulled away. Buffy turned to Xander.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah," Xander said, "I think she's going to be just fine."


	10. Chapter 10 - Transformation

AN: The use of Darth Vader in this chapter is inspired by my dear friend RUGoing2writethat, so... thank you for the suggestions, keep them coming.

Chapter 10 - Transformation

"So where did he take you, this time?" Buffy asked.

"We went to the planet Kataa Flo Ko." Anne replied, talking about the trip that Xander took her on.

"Funny name."

"That's what I said. It was beautiful. The whole planet was made of gemstones." She reached into her bag, and pulled out a glass bottle. It was filled with sand that sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the window.

"This is for you. It's sand from the beach. Technically, it's weathered powered gemstones."

"Wow, sparkly."

"We swam out to the coral reef, but it turns out the whole reef is made of diamond."

She reached into her bag again, and pulled out a diamond the size of her head.

"Oh my god." Buffy exclaimed. "That thing gotta be worth millions."

"Billions Xander said." Anne informed her. "One point two billion to be exact. It's too big to actually sell. I just like it cause it's so sparkly." She moved to set it on the dresser.

"I think I want to go on one of these trips with you. You get to see all these amazing places, while I'm stuck here."

"How are things with Angel?" Anne asked.

"Alright, I guess. He helps me patrol, and we kiss, but there's not much more."

"I'm sorry." Anne said.

"Well, at least some version of me is happy." Buffy muttered.

"Xander loves you. Well, he loves me, and I am you... You could always join us."

Buffy was aghast. "What? You want to share him?"

"Is it really sharing?" Anne wondered, "I mean we're the same person. Xander loves us, and I bet he can make you just as happy as he makes me."

"I... I can't talk about this."

"Just think about it."

Xander appeared in his mansion in a flash of light, and immediately turned to face the man leaning against the wall. He was dressed like he'd just stepped out of a bad 70's porno.

"Whistler, I presume." Xander said.

"Hey kid. I figured you'd know me."

"Yeah, well, I know-" Xander started.

"Everything, I know." Whistler finished. "So you know why I'm here."

"Yeah, but say what you came to say anyway. You know, for the readers."

"The who?" Whistler asked.

Xander stared at him for a moment before speaking. "Uh... Never mind."

"Right, so... I work for the powers that be. They like you, kid, I gotta say, I haven't seen them this psyched in a while. You have powers equaling them, but they are trapped by their own non-interference policies. But not you, oh no. You're free to act where they are not. Got them mighty jealous when you first got empowered. But now they are routing for you. There's just one problem."

"What problem is that?" Xander asked.

"You gotta pull back a bit, kid. If you keep helping the way you have been, you'll make your friends more reliant on you, and weaken them in the long run."

"So you came here to tell me to stop helping my friends."

"That... about sums it up."

"Goodbye, Whistler.

"Wait, kid, you can't pop me away-"

Snapping his finger, Xander spoke. "Sure I can." Whistler vanished in a flash of light. "Good riddance."

Two days later, there was a murder, a brutal animal attack. Because it was the night before the full moon, the group suspected werewolf. Xander knew the truth, but was torn, between giving them the answers early, to save lives, and not coddle his friends, proving to the powers that he hasn't stunted them. He decided on a middle ground, he'd feed them information along the way, and save the lives of as many people as he could.

"It's not a werewolf." Xander said.

"It's not?" Buffy asked, "What is it then?"

"I..." Xander sighed heavily, "I can't tell you that."

"What?" She demanded, "Why not?"

"The powers that be seem to feel that if I give you all the answers, that you won't grow, and become too reliant on my powers. Technically, the slayer is under their jurisdiction. Personally, I think this is crap, but you have to prove that you can do this without me."

"So you'll just let people die to prove a point?" Buffy asked.

"Of course not. I won't let people die."

Buffy turned to Anne, "What do you have to say about this?"

Anne smiled, "I trust Xander. He knows what he is doing."

"Well you are the slayers, after all, so you are plenty capable of solving this with out being given the answers." Giles said, "Buffy, take Oz, and patrol the woods around where the body was found. See if you run into anything unusual. Anne, take Xander and Willow to the morgue. See what the body from last night can teach us."

"Good plan." Xander said, standing up from the table.

Moments later, Xander stood, looking down at the mauled body of Jeff Orkin.

"You know, all the knowledge of death and war in my head, and I still am not used to this. It's a good thing I can't be physically sick anymore."

Anne and Xander watched as Willow opened a Scooby-Doo lunch box and removed tools, namely a plastic bag and tweezers. She had Xander hold a flashlight, while she carefully inspected under the body's fingernails.

"So what do you think?" Anne asked.

"I'm not sure." Willow replied, "I mean, there are a lot of incised wounds, but they could be from anything."

"What ever it is was vicious." Anne observed.

Willow picked along the cuts with her tweezers, "Almost done. Lemme just get a few stray hairs from the body. They could be from the attacker."

Xander grinned, "See, I knew you all could do this without me. Got everything we need?"

"Yup," Willow said, "That's it."

Willow dropped the tweezers, and fainted, falling back into Xander's arms.

"Okay." Xander grinned, "Uh... little too much excitement for the Wilster here."

It was hours later, that Willow was able to check the hairs under a microscope.

"They look almost..." Willow started.

"Human." Xander finished.

"I hate this 'you knowing but not telling' stuff."

Xander sighed heavily. "Me too, Wills."

The next day the group was eating lunch in the cafeteria when they were approached by Scott Hope, and his friends, Pete Clarner and Debbie Foley.

Xander couldn't help but glare at Pete knowing he was the one responsible for the killing of Jeff Orkin.

"Um... Hey Buffy," Scott said, hopefully.

Buffy smiled up at him. "Hey."

Oz looked up at the group. "How do, Debbie?"

"Hi, Oz." Debbie greeted, "Hey, you're not doing jazz band this year?"

"Oh, can't take the pressure. It's not the music that's hard, it's the marching."

"We have a marching Jazz band?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, but, you know, since the best jazz is improvisational, we'd be going off in all directions, banging into floats... Scary."

Willow grined, "He's just being Oz."

"I've been thinking about seeing Mister Platt." Xander said, carefully feeding the conversation, giving puzzle pieces to his friends. "Do you guys know him?"

"Platt?" Debbie wondered, "The School councilor?"

"Family issues," Xander muttered, coming up with an excuse, "Figured I need someone to talk to."

"Platt creeps me out." Debbie said, "I would totally quit going, but I'm flunking senior bio, and my teacher says I have success issues."

"Senior bio? I kinda aced that final."

"And how did you do that?" Willow asked rhetorically, "Oh, right. You showed up."

Oz just rolls his eyes, before turning to Debbie. "If you want my notes, they're yours."

"Thanks, that'd be great."

The bell for the end of lunch rang, signaling the return to classes.

"We'd better go." Buffy said. "Bye Scott."

"Bye." The group got up from their table and left, heading for their individual classes.

"He totally likes you." Anne said, as they walked.

"Yeah, but I'm with Angel."

"You haven't been happy in a while." Anne pointed out. "You should give Scott a chance. Unless you want to take me up on my offer."

"What offer is that?" Xander asked, his arm around Anne's waist.

"No offer." Buffy insisted, "There was no offer."

"Alright." Anne said, rolling her eyes.

The next day, the group was sitting in the grass after classes, relaxing when Xander suddenly jumped up. "There's another attack."

He then vanished in a flash of light, reappearing in Mr. Platts office. The man himself was sitting in his chair, facing away from his desk, and the door. Xander stood behind Pete who was standing in front of the desk, flexing his fingers, moments away from attacking Mr. Platt.

Xander snapped his fingers, causing Pete to vanish in a flash of light, teleported to the far side of Sunnydale. Mr. Platt heard the snap, and began to turn in his chair, but Xander willed his chair to jam, delaying the man long enough for Xander to disappear.

"There was another attack." Xander said, after he appeared on the grass in front of the school. "Mr. Platt, the school councilor. I stopped it before anyone was hurt, but the killer is still out there."

"You couldn't stop the killer?" Buffy asked.

"I could have, but I won't, that's your job. I've given you everything you need to solve this one. You know what? Screw this, come with me." He stood from the grass, and headed into the school, the group following. They approached Debbie Foley.

"Oh Debbie dear." Xander called.

"Huh?" She looked up from her locker. "Oh, hi."

"What's going on, Debbie. First Jeff get's killed, then Mt. Platt almost dies."

"What? What are you talking about?" Debbie asked.

"I know you know who's behind this." Xander replied.

"You're wrong. I don't know anything."

Anne stepped forward. "Normally, I'd say, you wanna play 'I have a secret'? Fine. But people are dying here."

"It... it's not his fault. I mean, he's not himself when he gets like this."

"You mean Pete." Anne said.

"It's me. I make him crazy. He-he just does what he does because he loves me too much."

"But wasn't Jeff murdered by an animal?" Willow asked.

"Pete's not like other guys, is he, Debbie?" Buffy questioned.

"I-I've gotta go." Debbie declared. She grabbed her purse out of her locker, and turned to leave, but Anne grabbed her arm.

"You have to talk to us. We can't help you until you do."

"I didn't ask for your help!" Debbie nearly shouted.

Xander sighed. "Well when are you going to. Once he realizes we know, he'll blame you, and he will kill you."

"Debbie, we're running out of time." Buffy said.

"You heard what Xander said." Anne continued, "He doesn't really love you, if he can do that to you."

She turned to Xander. "You know where he is?"

"He'll be here soon."

"Would they take him someplace?" Debbie asked.

Buffy nodded, "Probably."

"I could never do that to him. I'm his everything."

"How many black eyes has he given you?" Xander asked. "If he loved you he wouldn't hurt you. You're in an abusive relationship, and he controls you so completely, you can't even see it."

"Jeff is dead, Debbie," Anne pointed out, "Mr. Platt was almost. Who's going to be next?"

Debbie slid to the floor, and began to rock back and forth, chanting 'he does love me' over and over.

"I think we broke her." Willow commented.

"I think she was broken before this." Anne replied.

"We don't have time for this." Buffy said, "We need to find Pete."

"He'll be looking for Debbie." Xander snapped his fingers, and Debbie vanished in a flash. "She's in the library."

The group headed for the library, and found Giles attempting the console the distraught girl.

"Leave her, Giles," Xander said, "She's in need of serious therapy."

Suddenly the doors to the library opened, and in strolled Pete Clarner.

"Hey Pete." Buffy said. Anne just grinned mysteriously.

Debbie ran into Pete's arms. "They know about you, Pete. You've got to run. Get out of Sunnydale."

He shoved her away. "And how did they know Debbie? Did you run your big mouth?"

"No! They just knew. It seemed like they just knew."

"So you filled in the blanks." He shoved her, and she fell to the floor.

"No! No!"

"But what did I expect from a screw-up like you?"

"I'd watch your mouth, if I were you, Pete." Xander said.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Pete raised his hand to backhand Debbie, but suddenly, Xander was by his side, holding his wrist.

"You're not laying a hand on her."

"I-I didn't... Pete..."

He tried to pull away from Xander, but was unable to. Suddenly his head started thrashing back and forth, his face becoming disfigured, and his nails lengthening. He pulled his hand free from Xander, spun and punched him, tossing him across the library. Willow gasped in shock. Mid flight, Xander vanished in a flash of light, reappearing standing next to Buffy and Anne.

"You know Pete. I don't fight anymore. Luckily, I have knowledge of infinite people I can have fight for me."

Xander snapped his fingers. In a bright flash of light, stood a seven foot tall green skinned hulking beast.

"Hulk smash!" it cried, before punching Pete, propelling him straight into the far wall. In a flash The Hulk was gone, but in his place stood a man in black wearing a helmet, a man known as Darth Vader.

Pete was just getting to his feet, as Vader raised his arm, using the force to lift him from the floor. Pete grabbed at his neck, struggling to breath, while he thrashed, trying to free himself. Moments later, he fell unconscious from lack of air. Vader released him, his body falling to the floor, before the man in black vanished in a flash of light.

Giles, Willow, Buffy, Anne, and Xander stood over the unconscious malformed man, while he was held by a crying girl.

"What do we do with him?" Anne wondered.

"We can't just kill him, can we?" Buffy asked.

"Killing him in battle is one thing," Giles said, "but this would just be an execution."

"I could always just unmake him." Xander informed them, raising his hand, his fingers in position to snap.

"Do we have any options less... final?" Anne questioned. Xander dropped his arm.

"I know a great prison on an icy planet called Volag-noc, or he can join Cassandra and Cain on Matraxie 3. The other option, I could prevent him from transforming into that... thing, anymore. That would at least give him a chance to be normal."

"Cain?" Anne asked.

"OOPs. Forgot to tell you I sent him there."

"That fact aside, it sounds like a good idea," Giles said, "give him a chance to reform, without locking him away forever."

Xander snapped his fingers. In a flash, the mutated man was gone. In his place was a normal looking Pete Clarner. "It's done."

With a groan, Pete awoke. He saw Debbie holding him, and the scoobies standing over him, and leapt to his feet, growling for a moment, before realizing he wasn't transforming.

"What?" He touched his face, "What did you do to me?"

"We locked away your transformation." Xander informed him, "You'll never become that monster again. Enjoy normality."

Pete turned and stormed out of the library, grumbling under his breath, Debbie following meekly.

"Can you do anything for her?" Buffy asked.

"Not really." Xander answered. "I mean, I could transport her to a therapists office, but I can't make her get help. I can't affect free will."

"At least keep an eye on her," Anne said, "Save her if he turns violent."

"I will."

Alas, it wasn't ten minutes before Xander had to pop away, to stop Pete who was savagely beating Debbie. She had a black eye, and was bleeding from her nose, when Xander got there. There being a storage room where Pete stored the original formula he used to transform, before Debbie poured it all down the drain.

"We gave you a chance Pete. Sorry for having to do this." He snapped his fingers, and the abusive boy vanished in a flash of light, sent away to the prison on Volag-noc.

"What did you do to him?" Debbie asked, crying.

"I sent him away."

She threw herself at Xander, beating on his chest in a pitiful attempt to hurt him.

"I'm sorry, Debbie, but it's obvious that he doesn't need the transformation to be violent. He was beating you, and he was going to kill you."

"He loves me." She cried.

"Trust me on this, Debbie. He blamed you for us taking away his transformation. Add to that the fact you dumped his formula, he was most definitely going to kill you."

"I don't believe you." She said, before storming away.

Xander sighed, knowing there were some people you just couldn't help.


	11. Chapter 11 - Shakespeare

AN: This chapter features the Old English language, but I am not a master of the language, so forgive me if Shakespeare speaks modern English at times.

AN2: This is a Doctor Who chapter.

Chapter 11 - Shakespeare

"Where are we?" Buffy asked. This was her first trip with Anne and Xander and they were standing amongst wooden buildings, watching people in funny clothes walk the streets. The same funny clothes the three of them were wearing.

"This time, we didn't go to another planet. This is Earth, London to be precise. Approximately the year 1599."

"We can't like... mess up the past or anything, can we?" Buffy asked.

"Naw. We're fine. Just... if you ever see your past self, don't make physical contact. That would be bad. Now... We're just down the river by Southwark, and right around the corner is..."

He took a hand each of Anne and Buffy, and led them down the street, and around the corner of a building, before letting go, and pointing.

"The Globe Theater."

"We're here to see a play?" Anne asked.

"Not just any play. Shakespeare. A romance."

"We're going to see Shakespeare?" Buffy asked.

"Yup, and can meet him afterwords, if you want to." Xander answered.

They approached the ticket booth, and Xander pulled money out of his pocket, buying them box seats.

"You just happen to have fifteen hundreds money on you?" Buffy asked. Xander just looked at her, and rolled his eyes.

They climbed the rickety wooden stairs and found their box, where they sat and watched the play. It had just ended, when someone down in the pit started shouting 'Author, author!'

Anne and Buffy leaned forward to the railing of their box, looking down on the pit, when they both noticed something.

"Wait a minute, she's wearing a leather jacket." Buffy said.

"A red leather jacket." Anne added. They looked to Xander for answers, but he just smiled mysteriously.

"All answers will come in time."

A very young looking William Shakespeare stepped out onto the stage, blowing kisses to the crowd.

"He's not half bad looking." Buffy commented.

"What about Angel?" Anne asked.

"Angel won't even be born for... over a hundred years."

Anne grinned at her.

"You'll like him." Xander said, "Despite his fame, he's surprisingly down to earth."

Shakespeare stood center stage and open his mouth to speak, "Ah, shut your big fat mouths!"

Anne and Buffy laughed, "I see what you mean."

"You've got excellent taste," Shakespeare said, "I'll give you that. Oh, that's a wig." He pointed to someone in the crowd, everyone in the pit stretching to see the man he was pointing at.

"I know what you're all saying. Loves Labour's Lost, that's a funny ending, isn't it? It just stops. Will the boys get the girls? Well, don't get your hose in a tangle, you'll find out soon. Yeah, yeah. All in good time. You don't rush a genius...

When? Tomorrow night. The premiere of my brand new play. A sequel, no less, and I call it Loves Labour's Won."

"Ooh, Can we stay and watch the sequel?" Buffy asked.

"Of course." Xander grinned, "It'll be one hell of a show."

As the play was letting out, Buffy, Anne, and Xander hurried down the stairs, and headed to the Elephant inn, where he insisted they'd find Shakespeare. They climbed the stairs to the second floor of the inn, and entered Shakespeare's room. They found the man in conversation with two of the actors from the show that night, while the inn's owner served them drinks.

"Hello, Will, I must say, you did wonderfully tonight." Shakespeare seemed upset being disturbed, until he saw the two women with him.

"Well thank you kind sir, but do I know you?"

"I'm known simply as Q, these are my lovely companions, Anne and Buffy."

"And finer twins I have never to meet." Shakespeare said, grinning slyly at them. They had just sat down, when the door opened, and in entered a skinny man with wild hair, in a brown suit, and a black woman in a red leather jacket, the very woman Anne and Buffy pointed out in the theater.

"Hello!" The skinny man said, "Excuse me, not interrupting, am I? Mister Shakespeare, isn't it?" Anne and Buffy watched the by-play, while Xander kept his back to the man.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. Who let you in? No autographs. No, you can't have yourself sketched with me. And please don't ask where I get my ideas from. Thanks for the interest. Now be a good boy and shove-"

Shakespeare stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the woman in the leather jacket.

"Hey, nonny nonny. Sit right down here next to me." He turned to the two actors sitting with him. "You two get sewing on them costumes. Off you go."

"Come on, lads." Dolly, the server and inn keeper beckoned the actors. "I think our William's found his new muse."

"Sweet lady." William said to Dolly as she left. He then turned to face the two newest arrivals to the room, as they sat at the table. He looked at the woman. "Such unusual clothes. So fitted."

"Er, verily, forsooth, egads." The woman said.

"No, no, don't do that. Don't." The man instructed her. He reached into his coat, and pulled out a bilfold, which he showed to Shakespeare. "I'm Sir Doctor of Tardis and this is my companion, Miss Martha Jones."

"You're not The Doctor." Anne said.

The Doctor turned to her. "Wait a mo', I know you."

"Hello Doctor," Xander said.

"Q. And you're..." He thought for a moment, "Anne, right?"

"That's us." Xander replied, "This is Buffy, Anne's sister."

The Doctor looked back and forth between Anne, and Buffy for a moment, before reaching into a pocket on his suit, and pulled out what appeared to be old fashioned red and blue cardboard 3-D glasses. He slipped them onto his face, and looked at the girls again, before slipping them back into his pocket.

"They aren't sisters." The Doctor said. "If I had to guess, I'd say she" He pointed at Anne, "Is her" This time he pointed at Buffy, "from an parallel universe."

Xander grinned, "You are quite impressive, Doctor."

"How'd she get here?" He asked.

"I brought her here." Xander answered, "And before you even ask, yes, I can bring Rose here."

The Doctor had a look of betraying hope on his face, while Martha looked like someone kicked her puppy. Rose was the Doctor's companion for two years, before one of their adventures ended with her trapped in a parallel universe, with The Doctor unable to get to her. But then, The Doctor wasn't Q.

Xander looked to the dark skinned beauty. "I'm sorry Martha, I know you're holding a candle, but he loves her. Nothing will get in the way of that."

He turned back to the Doctor. "Find me after our companions are asleep, and we'll pop over to the other universe."

The Doctor grinned widely.

"But he's not the Doctor." Anne commented. "We met The Doctor. He was an older guy in a leather jacket.

"Time Lord." The Doctor said, as if that answered everything.

Xander rolled his eyes. "This is The Doctor. As he so eloquently put it, he's a Time Lord. They have this trick, when they are dying, they literally remake their bodies."

"Same man, new face." The Doctor added.

"So he's the same man we met on Platform One?"

The Doctor nodded, "That's me."

"Amazing." Shakespeare said, the others having forgot he was there during their reunion. "A man with one soul and multiple faces."

"Yes, that's me," The Doctor said, waving around his psychic paper, "Sir Doctor of Tardis."

"Interesting, that bit of paper. It's blank."

The Doctor was amazed, "Oh, that's very clever. That proves it. Absolute genius."

Martha frowned, "No, it says so right there. Sir Doctor, Martha Jones. It says so."

"And I say it's blank." Shakespeare insisted.

"Psychic paper." The Doctor informed her, "Er, long story. Oh, I hate starting from scratch."

Anne and Buffy looked to Xander for answers. "The paper is slightly psychic. It shows whatever he wants people to see. That or whatever they expect to see. But people with psychic training or true geniuses can see past it."

Shakespeare looked intrigued, "Psychic? Never heard that before and words are my trade. Who are you exactly? More's the point, who is your delicious blackamoor lady?"

Martha was aghast, "What did you say?"

Shakespeare looked embarrassed, "Oops. Isn't that a word we use nowadays? An Ethiop girl? A swarth? A Queen of Afric?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." Martha muttered.

"It's political correctness gone mad." The Doctor said, "Er, Martha's from a far-off land. Freedonia."

"Actually, so are these two." Xander added, sticking his thumbs out at the two blondes.

Suddenly, the door banged open, and in came a rather robust man wearing velvet and a large gold chain around his neck, looking rather angry. "Excuse me! Hold hard a moment. This is abominable behaviour. A new play with no warning? I demand to see a script, Mister Shakespeare. As Master of the Revels, every new script must be registered at my office and examined by me before it can be performed."

Shakespeare looked exasperated, "Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll send it round."

"I don't work to your schedule, you work to mine." The man insisted, "The script, now!"

"I can't." Shakespeare said.

"Then tomorrow's performance is canceled. I'm returning to my office for a banning order."

"It's all go around here, isn't it?" Martha wondered.

"If it's the last thing I do, Love's Labours Won will never be played." The man spun around, and stormed out of the room, and down the stairs.

"Well, that was dramatic." Buffy said.

"That's Lynley." Shakespeare explained. "He has more of a love of power, then art."

Martha sighed, "Well then, mystery solved. That's Love's Labours Won over and done with. Thought it might be something more, you know, more mysterious."

"There was a mystery?" Anne asked.

Martha was about to answer, when there were multiple screams from outside. The bunch of them stood, and ran down the stairs and outside the inn, where they found Lynley spewing up water, as he struggled to stay on his feet.

Martha was shocked, "It's that Lynley bloke."

"What's wrong with him?" The Doctor wondered, "Leave it to me. I'm a doctor."

"So am I, near enough." Martha added. They ran to Lynley, Anne and Buffy following quickly, and Xander walking toward him at a slower pace. Shakespeare stayed standing at the door to the inn.

Lynley suddenly keeled over, falling to the ground. Martha checked for a pulse, but found none. "Got to get the heart going. Mister Lynley, come on. Can you hear me? You're going to be all right."

She leaned his head back to perform CPR, but stopped as water gushed out of his mouth. "What the hell is that?"

"Allow me." Xander, said, crouching next to the group. He snapped his fingers, and the water vanished. "Go ahead."

Martha stared at Xander for a moment, before beginning CPR. Unfortunately, it was no hope, Mister Lynley was dead.

"I've never seen a death like it." The Doctor said, "His lungs were full of water. He drowned and then, I don't know, like a blow to the heart, an invisible blow."

The Doctor turned to Dolly, "Good mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humours. A natural if unfortunate demise. Call a constable and have him taken away."

Dolly nodded, "Yes sir."

The inn's maid stepped up, "I'll do it, ma'am."

"Why'd you tell them that?" Buffy asked.

"This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they'll panic and think it was witchcraft."

"What was it, then?" Martha asked.

"Witchcraft." The Doctor answered.

They waited while Mister Lynley's body was carted away, before returning to the inn, adjourning to Shakespeare's room.

"I got you a room, Sir Doctor. You and Miss Jones are just across the landing. And you and your ladies, Mister... Q?"

"Just Q." Xander corrected.

"You are in the room next to Sir Doctor's."

"Thank you, Dolly." Xander said, Anne and Buffy smiling at her.

"Poor Lynley." Shakespeare spoke up after Dolly left, "So many strange events. Not least of all, this land of Freedonia where a woman can be a doctor?"

"Where a woman can do what she likes." Martha retorted.

"And you, Sir Doctor. How can a man so young have eyes so old?"

"I do a lot of reading." He replied.

"A trite reply. Yeah, that's what I'd do. And you?" He turned to Xander. "You appear to have knowledge of the universe behind your eyes."

"Oh, He's good." Anne commented.

"And you two." He looked at Anne and Buffy, "Two sisters with one soul... or perhaps the same soul."

Shakespeare turned to Martha, "You look at them like you're surprised they exist. They are as much of a puzzle to you as they are to me."

"I think we should say goodnight." With that, Martha turned and exited the room, heading to her and The Doctor's room for the night.

"I must work. I have a play to complete. But I'll get my answers tomorrow, Doctor, Q, and I'll discover more about you and why this constant performance of yours."

"All the world's a stage." The Doctor said.

"Hmm. I might use that. Goodnight, Doctor."

Xander couldn't help but laugh at The Doctor feeding Shakespeare his future famous lines.

"Goodnight, William." Xander said, leading Anne and Buffy from the room. They entered the room they would be staying for the night, and looked around.

"Not exactly five star, is it?" Buffy asked.

"Eh-" Xander said, "for one night, it'll do."

There were two beds, so it looked like he either wasn't sleeping, or sharing with Anne. Not that he was complaining. The mattresses were stuffed with straw, and not the most comfortable, but again, for one night, they'd do.

"So," Anne spoke up softly, "The Doctor said witchcraft."

"He was being facetious."

"Oh, 'cause he sounded pretty serious."

"We know there is such a thing as magic. I mean, we've seen it." Buffy said.

"Don't try telling The Doctor that," Xander instructed, "He'd never believe it."

"Why?"

"He's never seen magic. He comes from a time when magic has long ago died out."

"That's sad." Buffy whispered.

"Yeah." Anne agreed.

"Anyway, I have to help the Doctor, I'll be back." Xander slipped from the room, and knocked on the door of the room shared by The Doctor and Martha.

The Doctor stepped outside, and Xander spoke. "Ready to get Rose back?"


	12. Chapter 12 – Rose

Chapter 12 – Rose

Xander and the Doctor appeared in a flash of light. They were standing in the street of parallel London in front of the building known publicly as One Canada Square, in Canary Wharf. In reality it was Torchwood Tower. Torchwood was an organization founded by queen Victoria to battle hostole extra-terrestrials.

"You ready?" Xander asked.

The Doctor seemed especially nervous. He looked at the double doors they stood in front of before speaking. "Yeah. Yeah I am."

They each grabbed one door and pushed, entering the building together. The woman sitting at the desk in the lobby smiled at them. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Yes," Xander spoke up, "We're here to see Miss Rose Tyler."

"Do you have an appointment?"

Xander snapped his fingers behind his back, adjusting Rose's schedule. "Yes, we do now. At noon."

"Alright, I'll buzz you up. Take the lift over there," she pointed them the right way, "And go to the 49th floor. Her office is on the left."

"Thank you." Xander said. The Doctor was unusually quiet through out the exchange. They took the lift to the 49th floor and found her office easily enough, the plaque on the door engraved, 'Rose Tyler'.

"Stay out here, Doctor, I'm going to enjoy surprising her."

Before the Doctor could reply, Xander opened the door to Rose's office, and slipped inside, closing it behind himself.

"'Scuse me, what do you think you are doing?" Rose asked. There she was still blonde, sitting behind a large desk doing paperwork, and being upset that someone walked into her office without knocking. "Wait a mo', I know you. Do you work in R&D?"

"No, you need to think back, way back, to Platform One."

Rose gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Q. You're here from the other universe. But does that mean..."

Xander snapped his fingers and The Doctor appeared in a flash.

"Doctor?" Before he could reply, she had flown across the office, and into his arms.

"Oh Rose, my Rose Tyler."

"Are we going home?"

"Yes," Xander said, "Yes we are."

Rose looked to Xander, "I need to say goodbye to my family, and quit this job."

"Are you sure you want to come with us?" The Doctor asked, "You have a life here and family. Thing's I could never give you."

"You silly man," Rose replied, "My life is on the Tardis, running, with you."

"I love you, Rose Tyler." The Doctor said.

"I love you too, my Doctor." He leaned down, and kissed Rose for the first time.

Xander grinned. He liked a happy ending. "Alright, time's a wasting."

Rose and The Doctor pulled apart, blushing. "Okay, I'll go talk to Pete, He's head of Torchwood now."

The two reality hoppers followed the blonde to the lift, and up to the top floor of the building. The doors opened to Pete Tyler's office.

"Mister Pete Tyler," The Doctor started, "You've done quite well for yourself."

"Doctor?" Pete asked, "How did you get here?"

"Got a lift with a friend. By the way this is Q."

"Hey." Xander said, waving subtly.

"I'm going home Pete." Rose said, tears in her eyes. "You need to fill my position within Torchwood. Mickey would be a good choice."

"Of course, make sure you say goodbye to your mother."

"We're heading there next." Rose assured him.

After a few more minutes of Rose talking about the future of Torchwood, they left the office and headed to the parking garage, where they took Rose's car to the Tyler Mansion.

"Rose, You're home early." Jackie Tyler said as they entered the house.

"Mum, look who finally found his way here." Rose said pointing at The Doctor.

Jackie Tyler grimaced, "Hello, Doctor, come to take my only daughter away?"

"Not forever." Xander said, "Anytime she wants to come visit, all she has to do is call for me, and we can pop on over."

"Really?" Rose asked.

"Sure. I don't see why not. I consider you a friend, after all."

Jackie smiled, "I don't know who you are, but thank you."

"No worries, ma'am, I'm happy to help out."

They stayed for dinner with Jackie and Pete, along with Tony, Rose's baby brother, before saying their goodbye's and heading outside.

"Gather 'round," Xander said, "One trip to our home reality, coming right up."

He snapped his fingers and in a flash, they were back in 1599 London, the Elephant inn.

"This isn't the Tardis." Rose observed.

"Nope, it's 1599, and we're in the middle of a mystery involving Shakespeare and witches." Xander explained, "The Doctor will fill you in."

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, the silent night was broke by a woman screaming. Immediately they were off and running.

"Oh, how I've missed this!" Rose cried.

They arrived in Shakespeare's room to find the man himself unconscious but just waking up, and Dolly on the floor, dead. They were quickly joined by Martha, Anne, and Buffy.

While The Doctor crouched by Dolly's body, Rose ran to the open window and looked out, shocked to see a witch on a broom flying away.

"Her heart gave out." The Doctor observed, "She died of fright."

"Doctor!" Rose called, pointing.

"What did you see?"

"A witch."

"Sorry, who's that?" Martha asked.

"Oh um..." The Doctor seemed embarrassed. "Martha Jones, Rose Tyler."

"You replaced me?" Rose asked.

The Doctor took Rose into his arms. "No one can ever replace you."

"Is this really the time?" Martha pointed out.

"Right, right, you're right, of course."

They called for a constable to have Dolly's body removed. They all waited in silence for a few minutes, before Rose turned to the Doctor.

"At least you weren't alone while I was gone. I'm glad you had someone with you."

The Doctor put his arm around Rose's shoulder, and held her, Xander doing the same to Anne. He then reached over and took Buffy's hand, giving it a slight squeeze, before releasing it.

The sun was rising before anyone spoke again. Dolly's body had been taken away, and Shakespeare released a sad sigh.

"Oh, sweet Dolly Bailey. She sat out three bouts of the plague in this place when we all ran like rats. But what could have scared her so? She had such enormous spirit."

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." The doctor quoted.

Shakespeare looked up, "I might use that."

"You can't, it's someone else's."

"Forgive me," Rose said, "because I just walked into this, but you were in the room with the witch. What were you doing last night?"

"I was... nothing, I was finishing the play." Shakespeare said, gesturing to a stack of paper on his desk.

"Good girl, Rose." Xander muttered, knowing that his knowledge wasn't needed here.

"The play... the play! Of course!" The Doctor cried, "Shakespeare, what happens on the last page?"

"The boys get the girls. They have a bit of a dance. It's all as funny and thought provoking as usual. Except those last few lines." He thought for a moment, "Funny thing is, I don't actually remember writing them."

"Let me see." The Doctor ordered. Following Shakespeare's instructions, he flipped through the stack of paper, moving to the last page, without making a mess. He found it, and began reading.

"Dravidian shores? Rexel four? Oh, they gave you the final words like a spell, like a code. Love's Labours Won. It's a weapon. The right combination of words, spoken at the right time. The play's the thing! And yes, you can have that." He stopped to think for a moment. "Though they'd need some type of power amplifier. These so called witches couldn't do this on their own."

"I better get rid of that... spell." Xander snapped his fingers, altering the last page.

"Peter Streete spoke of witches." Shakespeare commented.

"Who's Peter Streete?" Anne asked, tired of standing around while The Doctor does all the work.

"Our builder. He sketched the plans to the Globe."

"The architect. Hold on." The Doctor was thinking hard, "The architect! The architect! The Globe! Come on!"

"Go Doctor, to the Globe. Anne, Buffy, and I will go talk to the Architect. We'll meet you back here."

"Be careful." The Doctor instructed, before leaving with Rose, Martha, and Shakespeare.

"Where are we going?" Buffy asked.

"Bethlehem Hospital." Xander answered, "The mad house. I'll warn you now, it's more prison, less hospital, not a pretty place."

He sighed, thinking about what he was about to expose his girls to. "You ready?"

"We're with you till the end." Anne said. Buffy nodded her agreement.

Xander snapped his fingers, and in a flash of light, they were standing in a cell, looking down on a man with dirty mussed hair, and wild eyes.

"This is Peter Streete. After finishing the Globe, he lost his mind. The witches broke him." Xander stepped forward and pressed the tip of his index finger to Streete's forehead.

"Where... where am I?" Peter asked.

"You're in Bethlem hospital." Xander told him.

"I... I remember. The witches-"

"They broke your mind. I've repaired the damage. You're fine now. I need to know, where in the city did you see the witches?"

"On All Hallows Street. Third house in from the block."

"To many words!" Came the voice of a witch that appeared in front of them. She had long hair and nails, and was all wrinkly. "Just one touch of the heart."

She reached out to touch Peter on the chest.

"Oh no you don't." Xander said, snapping his fingers. The witch vanished in a flash of light. "Much better. Now, Peter, I'm going to send you away, somewhere the witches can't find you, but I'll bring you back home after they are dealt with."

"Thank you." Peter said, before he too vanished in a flash.

"Let's get out of this hell." Buffy said. The three vanished in a familiar flash of light, returning to Shakespeare's room at the inn.

"What did you find out?" The Doctor asked, when they arrived.

"Well hello to you too." Anne said.

"Yes yes, hello. Now what did you find out?"

"Peter Streete told us where the witches live." Xander informed them, "I say we go there and confront them."

"How else are we going to find out what they want?" Anne asked.

"You know, aside Xan- err, Q just telling us." Buffy added.

"That would take all the fun out of life." Xander said, "Besides, The Doctor would never believe me. He has to work it out for himself. So, what did you find at the theater."

The Doctor grinned enthusiastically, "The whole place is one great big energy convertor."

"Perfect for activating the... for lack of a better word... spell on the last page. Or what was the last page before I got rid of it."

The entire group vanished in a flash, reappearing on the street, in front of the witches house.

"What?" Shakespeare asked, "How did we get here?"

"Um... magic?" Xander answered, grinning at his two companions. "Naw, it's just a thing I can do. Now no time to waste, let's go."

Xander and the Doctor led the way into the house, Shakespeare and the four girls following. They climbed the stairs slowly, carefully entering the room at the top. Inside was the maid from the inn, standing in front of a waist high bubbling cauldron.

"Stereotypical much?" Anne asked.

The maid girl turned, but didn't seem surprised to see them.

"I take it we were expected?" The Doctor said.

"Oh, I think Death has been waiting for you a very long time." The maid replied.

"Doctor, tell me you can do something about her." Rose wondered.

"No mortal has power over me."

"Oh, but there's power in words." The Doctor said. "If I can find the right one. If I can just know you."

"None on Earth has knowledge of us." The creature declared.

"Yeah, that's not exactly true." Xander pointed out.

The Doctor pressed his hands to his temples, "Think, think, think. Humanoid female, uses shapes and words to channel energy."

"Fourteen." Xander said, feeding The Doctor the piece of information he needed.

"Ah! Fourteen! That's it! Fourteen! The fourteen stars of the Rexel planetary configuration! Creature, I name you Carrionite!"

The maid screamed and vanished in a flickering light.

"What did you do?" Martha asked.

"I named her." The Doctor answered, "The power of a name. That's old magic."

"But there's no such thing as magic." Martha said, causing Anne and Buffy to snicker.

"Well, it's just a different sort of science. You lot, you chose mathematics. Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, you can split the atom. Carrionites use words instead."

"You happy with your answers, Doctor?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, pretty happy, thanks." The Doctor answered.

"Good. Now it's my turn." Xander snapped his fingers and three Carrionites appeared before them.

"What are you?" One of them asked. "No mortal has power over us."

"Yeah, well who says I'm mortal?" Xander inquired. "Say bye bye to the nice Carrionites."

Buffy and Anne waived at them." Xander snapped his fingers again, vanishing the creatures.

"Gotta love that." He said to his girls. "Not witches. Aliens."

"That's it?" Martha asked. "Kinda anti-climactic."

"Don't worry," Xander said, "There will be plenty more adventures you'll have with The Doctor."

In a flash a glass ball appeared in Xander's hand, a sphere filed with thrashing Carrionites. "I think you can handle this, Doctor. Find somewhere safe for it."

He passed over the glass ball. The Doctor looked down at it. "I have an attic in the Tardis where the Carrionites can scream for all eternity."

"The Tardis is your ship, right?" Anne asked.

"That it is, best ship in the universe."

"Can we see it?" She asked.

He looked at Rose. "Well, after what Q did for me, I don't see why not."

They left the witches house, and The Doctor led the way to the Tardis, where upon reaching it, Rose ran ahead to unlock the door. "Oh, I've missed this place."

The blonde sisters stopped outside, looking at the small wooden box.

"That's not a space ship." Buffy demanded.

"It is." Xander assured her. "It's a disguise."

The Doctor led them inside. The two slayers were shocked at the sheer size inside the ship, compared to the relatively small exterior.

"Tardis. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." The Doctor explained.

Rose led them on a tour of the ship. Of course, they couldn't see everything, the ship was massive, but she showed off her favorite rooms, including the kitchen, library, media room, and swimming pool.

Finally Xander, Anne, and Buffy left the ship, and returned to 1599 London.

"Is it always like this, going on these trips with you?" Buffy asked, as they walked down the street.

"No. As a wise Doctor once said... danger is just the bits in between."


	13. Chapter 13 – SG1 and Assassinations

AN: I was having a lot of trouble with this chapter, when I attempted to write up the episode 'Band Candy'. Finally I gave up, and made this chapter a Stargate crossover.

Also, I need to reference Dana Short, and her story 'Forever White Knight' for the idea of the moving Hawaiian shirt.

Chapter 13 – SG1 and Assassinations

Jack O'Neill lay on the icy ground, the pain from his broken leg throbbing as he attempted not to move it, and thought back to what brought them to this place. They had arrived on the planet they had titled P4A-771, to a hail of staff weapon fire from the Jaffa guard that circled the gate. Quickly dialing back to Earth, amidst a fire-fight wasn't easy, but they managed, and after sending the return code via the GDO (Garage Door Opener), They headed for the event horizon of the wormhole. Teal'c and Daniel Jackson entered the gate, which was hit by multiple staff blasts, before himself and Samantha Carter, also known as Sam, managed to enter. Something went wrong, because they ended up in a frozen wasteland, separated from Teal'c and Daniel. Sam had located the DHD (Dial Home Device), which had to be dug out of the ice, and was attempting to repair it, while they survived off of the Emergency MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat).

The sudden sound of an air horn woke them from their sleep on the morning of the third day in the frozen cavern.

"Wha-" Jack said, sitting up, and glancing at Sam who was staring behind him, agog. He spoke, as he struggled to turn, without moving his broken leg. "Sam, what is-"

Then he saw it. A bus. A full sized city bus sitting amongst the ice and snow.

"Am I hallucinating?" Jack asked.

"What do you see, sir?" Sam questioned.

"A bus?"

"I see it too."

Suddenly, the doors to the bus opened, and a man... well, boy no more then eighteen, with short black hair leaned out. He was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt over which was a bright Hawaiian shirt, depicting the sun setting on a beach. What made Jack rub his eyes, was it appeared the waves on his shirt were moving, washing against the shore. It was one of those things that was very subtle, he wasn't sure if they were really moving, or it was just the movement of the fabric appearing that way.

"Hi." The boy said. "You folks look like you can use a lift."

The fore most window on the bus opened, and a blonde leaned out. "You should come on bored. It's pretty cold out there."

"What do you think, Carter?" Jack asked.

"I don't know sir." She replied.

The boy descended the stairs of the bus, and stepped off it, the snow crunching under foot. "You alright there?" He asked. "Come on, get on the bus."

Jack scowled, "I kinda can't. Broken leg."

"Oh is that all?" The boy asked. He approached Jack, and pressed the index and middle fingers on his right hand against Jack's forehead. A moment later, he dropped his hand.

"Wow." Jack exclaimed.

"Are you alright, sir?" Sam asked.

Jack grinned, "Alright? I'm better then alright. Not only does my leg not hurt, but neither do my knees. I feel great."

Jack got to his feet, and walked around the cavern, along with an occasional hop.

"Are you sure that's a good idea sir?" Sam asked, "I mean we have no idea what he did to you."

"Sure, you do." The boy said. "I healed him."

"But how?" Sam inquired.

"You saw me. I pressed my fingers to his head."

"No, I mean physically, how did you heal him?"

"Must you break everything down to science, Samantha Carter? I just did."

"How do you know my name?" She asked.

"Oh, right, introductions!" The boy cried, ignoring Sam's question. "Samantha Carter, Jack O'Neill, I am the being known as Q. And this is Anne."

He pointed at the blonde.

"Q, like from star trek?" Jack asked.

"One in the same. Now, do you want to get out of this cave and go home, or should we leave you here?" Xander asked.

"You can really get us home?" Jack questioned.

"Of course." Xander answered, "Now get on board, I'll crank up the heat for you."

Following Xander, they boarded the bus, and sat down on the seats next to Anne. Xander sat in the drivers seat, and cranked up the heater, while shutting the doors.

"Oh, that feels good." Jack said.

"It should," Anne pointed out, "It's really freezing out there."

Xander looked back at his passengers. "Okay, here we go."

Suddenly, the windows were blocked out by blinding white light, though it only lasted for a moment. When the light died down, Jack and Sam looked around, realizing that the bus was now sitting in the middle of the gate room in Stargate Command.

"What? How did we get here?" Sam asked.

Xander just grinned at her.

"Magic?" Anne commented sarcastically.

Xander looked around the room with a grin on his face, as dozens of soldiers charged in, and aimed guns at the bus.

Xander pressed the button that would open the doors. "Final stop, SGC, all off."

"You gotta come with us, and explain this. Our CO (Comanding Officer) will never believe this." Jack said, before stepping off the bus, followed by Sam. Xander looked at Anne, before following the two soldiers.

"Colonel?" Came a voice over the loudspeaker.

"Honey, I'm home." Jack called.

"Stand down." Called the voice. The armed soldiers lowered their guns, and began filing out of the room. A heavy set bald man in air force dress blues stepped into the room.

"Colonel. Captain. Would you care to explain where this bus came from?"

"That would be our question too, sir." Sam answered.

"I'd like to introduce you to... Q, sir. He's the one that saved us. Q, this is General Hammond."

"Hello, General." Xander greeted.

"Well... thank you for rescuing our wayward charges."

"It wasn't a problem, General. Now if I may, Anne and I would like to talk to you about what you do here at this fascinating compound."

"Colonel?" Hammond asked.

"We didn't say anything, sir." Jack assured him.

"He didn't need to. I know all about the Stargate. A fascinating device."

"What's a stargate?" Anne asked.

"It's that ring there." Xander said, pointing to the large metal ring in the middle of the room. "It opens a stable wormhole... like a portal, allowing people to step through it, and travel nearly instantaneously to a sister gate on a distant planet."

"And how long has the military been traveling to other planets?" Anne asked.

"Nearly a year now." Xander replied.

General Hammond looked incensed. "This is the most classified secret in the world. How do you seem to know all about it?"

"That's simple, General." Xander explained, "I know everything."

Hammond sighed heavily, before turning to Jack. "Debriefing in one hour, after you've been cleared by medical. And get these two checked out. Oh, and can you get rid of the bus?"

"Sure thing, General."

Xander snapped his fingers, the bus vanishing in a flash of light. He and Anne followed Jack and Sam taking the elevator up seven levels to the base infirmary.

"Hello, Doctor. Fraiser" Xander said.

"I'm sorry," She replied, "Do I know you?"

"No, but I'm a patient of yours now... Apparently. This is Anne."

"Hi." Anne said, brightly.

An hour later, Xander and Anne were escorted to the VIP quarters on level 25, while Doctor Frasier joined SG1 for their debriefing.

"Well Doctor, what can you tell us about our newest visitors?"

"Well... first the girl, Anne. She reads as if on steroids. Her heartbeat is extremely fast, her MRI shows massive brain activity, yet I couldn't find any sign of drugs in her blood work.

"That's interesting." Sam commented.

"Oh, she wasn't the interesting one. The interesting one was the one calling himself 'Q'."

"What was so interesting about him?" Daniel Jackson asked.

"That's just it. I don't know. His Cat scan, his MRI, both came up blank. I checked, and there's nothing wrong with the machines. And I was unable to get a blood sample."

"Is it possible the Goa'uld found a way to beat your technology?" Teal'c asked.

"I'm sorry," Fraiser said, "but I can't think of anyway that someone can 'beat' x-ray scans, unless he was made of lead."

"Why don't we just ask him?" Jack offered,"After all, he saved our lives. Not really something a Goa'uld would do."

"And the way he did it," Sam added, "Was way advanced technology. Transporters, like something the Tollan would have."

Hammond stood, and opened the door to the briefing room, and spoke to the guard outside. "Airman, please escort our guests here from the VIP suite."

"Yes sir." The airman said, before snapping off a salute, then hurrying away.

Minutes later, Xander and Anne entered the briefing room, holding hands.

Hammond gestured to two empty chairs around the table. "Please, have a seat."

Xander pulled out a chair for Anne, before sitting herself. "What can we do for you, General?"

"For starters, could you explain why none of the medical scans worked on you?"

"That's simple." Xander said, "I chose for it to be that way."

"Perhaps you could clarify what you mean by that?" The General asked.

Xander thought about it for a moment, and decided if he wanted to help these people defend the earth, then he needed to be at least somewhat honest. "I am an energy being. The body that you see is simply an extension of my will. It could have ten heads and tentacles if I wanted. So I simply chose not to have blood or anything that would show up on your scans."

"You can do that?" Sam asked.

"I can do anything I want."

"Is that how you got the bus to that planet?"

Xander decided not to tell them that they were on earth, having come through a second Stargate. "I created the bus, and brought it to the cavern you were trapped in."

"SO these are natural abilities of yours?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Xander replied.

"That means that you don't have technology you can share with us." Jack grumbled.

"Oh, you want technology." Xander said, as if he didn't already know that. "Well that's no problem."

He cu[pped his two hands together for a moment, before pulling them apart, showing he was holding a small green ring.

"Here ya go, Jack." Xander said, tossing it across the table to the Colonel, who snatched the ring out of the air.

"Is this what I think it is?" Jack asked.

"If you think it's a green lantern power ring, then you would be correct."

"And it works?"

"If it's charged. I think you'll be needing this." Xander snapped his fingers, making a green lantern power battery appear in a flash of light. "DO you know the oath to charge the ring?"

"My son and I used to read the comics together." He said, with a hint of nostalgia, before slipping the ring onto his right middle finger. The ring adjusted itself to fit him. He held the ring up to the front of the battery, and spoke.

"In brightest day

In Blackest night

No evil shall escape my sight

Shall those who worship evil's might

Beware my power

Green Lantern's light."

Thhere was a flash of green light, then the ring spoke. "Power level 100%."

Xander grinned, "The ring's database is filled with information about the species in this universe, so use it well, Jack. That ring is considered the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Ring," Jack ordered, "Identify species."

"Species designation 'Q'. Omnipotent super-being."

Sam gasped at that description. Xander grinned at her.

"Well, I think my work her is done for now..." Xander turned to Hammond, "General, you can inform your superiors that the planet is now as safe as it could possibly be. I swear to protect it at all costs. If you need me, you need only call out loud for me, and I'll hear it."

"That's wonderful son, where are you off to now?"

"We're heading to California." Anne answered.

"I'm sorry, but I can't just let two aliens wonder the planet."

"You speak as if you have a choice." Xander snapped his fingers, causing he and Anne to vanish in a flash of light.

A week had passed since Anne and Xander met SG1, and they had since kept busy slaying vampires, and keeping the towns people safe. The three were patrolling together, as Oz was at band practice, and Angel had been fairly lax about patrolling lately. They had cleared the last cemetery, and were heading home, when Xander suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Xan!" Anne cried.

Xander quickly got to his feet, a thunderous look on his face, even as there was a hole through his head. With a thought, the hole sealed up and disappeared. He held out his hand, a small flash of white light making a warped shard of metal appear. He held the shard between his thumb and forefinger.

"Someone shot me."

"What?" Anne asked, shocked.

"Someone shot me." Xander repeated, "This is a sniper bullet."

He dropped the bullet, and snapped his fingers. In a flash right in front of them, appeared a man, lying on the ground, a sniper rifle pressed to his shoulder, facing away from them. The man looked around shocked to be in a different location then he was a moment ago. Buffy lashed out, kicking the gun away. Suddenly, Giles appeared in another flash of white light.

"Xander? What am I doing here?"

"You need to witness this." He turned to the shooter.

"Who are you?" Xander asked, already knowing, but asking anyway, for the good of his friends and girlfriend.

"Do your worst, I'll never talk." The man said, rather dramatically in Xander's opinion. He snapped his fingers.

"My name is William McDuffy. I'm an operative of the watchers council." The man, William looked shocked at the truths coming out of his mouth.

"What are your orders?"

"Kill the person who is ruining the watchers control of the slayer by making more. Also to take out the two slayers on the hellmouth putting things right." Giles looked furious.

"How did you know about them?" Giles asked.

"The council got everything from the report of Diana Dormer."

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted her." Buffy grumbled.

Xander snapped his fingers, sending the sniper away.

Where'd you send him?" Buffy asked.

"I sent him to stormcage containment facility in the 52nd century. It's a prison for the worst criminals. Now we have to decide on what to do about the watchers council."

"They went too far this time." Giles agreed.

"There's really nothing they can do to stop me, but if they had shot one of the girls, even with their healing abilities, there's a decent chance they could have died."

Anne and Buffy gasped at how close they had come.

"I could kill them all," Xander said, "Wipe out the council."

"Is that necessary?" Giles asked. "I mean, they aren't all bad."

"I guess I could just weed out the bad apples, and send them to Stormcage as well."

"Probably for the best." Giles agreed.

"But I wanted to blow them up." Xander whined. "You sure I can't make just a small explosion?"

"No."

"Just a tiny one?"

"No."

Xander sighed. "Aww... all right. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, before kissing Anne, then grinning flirtatiously at Buffy. Giles just cleaned his glasses, and cleared his throat. Xander vanished in a flash, reappearing in the headquarters of the Watchers council in England.

"Mister Travers, I presume?" Xander greeted.

"You!" Travers cried. "You are ruining what we do here."

"Me? I'm protecting them, and giving them a chance at freedom from your clutches. All you care about is controlling them."

"They are tools to serve us." Travers demanded.

"They are teenage girls!" Xander rebutted. "They are more then you will ever know, and I'll free them all from your control, if I have to."

"Guards!" Travers cried.

One of the doors in the room opened, and a group of men prepared to rush in. Xander turned to face them, and a grid of silver 'T' shaped floating metallic grids blocked their way. "I'll deal with them in a moment, but first, you."

He turned to Travers. "No more using the girls like a tool, they are people and will be respected for their sacrifices."

"Or what?" Travers asked.

Xander snapped his fingers, making the man vanish. "Or you'll spend the rest of your life in a cell."

Xander sat in the man's now empty seat. "For now on, I'm in charge of the Watchers Council."

"But... but it doesn't work that way." Spoke up one of the men around the table.

"It does now." Xander said. He looked around the room, using his omniscience to know which people were good and respected the Slayers, and which ones were going to cause him trouble in the future. He snapped his fingers, sending four of the men, plus the guards outside to Stormcage.

"For now on, the council will aid the Slayer in her duty, not treat her like they would a common weapon."

He looked around the room and knew that there was one person who truly believed the same as himself. Aside from Giles, there was a Watcher named Robson, who was a friend of Giles'.

"Robson, come forth." Xander ordered. The man stepped forward. "You will run the council in my stead."

"Me? But I'm just a field watcher in training."

You represent the ideals that I look for in true watchers. You will represent me on this board."

"It's... it's an honour."

"Do well here. I'll know if you don't." Then he was gone.


	14. Chapter 14 - Confrontations

I don't really like the flow of this chapter, as I've found it exceedingly difficult to write a good story with a character who can solve everyone's problems by just snapping his fingers.

Chapter 14 - Confrontations

"What do you mean, Willow's missing?" Xander asked. They were gathered in the library at the school.

"We were supposed to go to the mall this afternoon," Buffy explained, "But she never showed up, so I went looking for her. She's not at home, and I can't find her anywhere."

Xander looked away from her, looking distantly into the ether, before responding, "Spike has her."

"Then we need to go save her." Buffy said, moving to the weapon chest, and arming herself with a sword, while Oz and Cordelia armed themselves with crossbows. Giles wasn't there, as he had left to go on a personal spiritual retreat. "Cordelia, go with Oz to get Giles, please, then meet us at Willy's."

Xander was glad that their first reaction wasn't to

expect him to solve everything. "It's not like Spike can hurt her, remember? I chipped him."

"He probably has minions to do his dirty work, and we have no way of knowing if he's found a way to get rid of the chip."

Xander just sighed, knowing there's no way he could get rid of the chip without dying, but spoke anyway. "Then let's go."

Before they could head out, the phone at the desk rang.

"Giles?" Buffy asked.

"Hi, Buffy." The voice on the phone said, which turned out to be her mother, Joyce Summers, "You and Anne still working out?"

"Uh, no, Mom, actually-" Buffy began, before their mom cut her off.

"I was hoping that we could schedule a college talk later tonight. I admit I... overreacted before." Joyce said, referencing an earlier fight they had about Buffy and Anne going to school away from Sunnydale.

"You don't have to go all the way across the country. I, um, picked up some brochures from some nearby schools, okay?" Joyce informed her, talking about college.

"That's great, but now's really not a good time-"

Suddenly a familiar voice came through the phone, and stabbed straight into Buffy's heart. The voice of Spike, who had just entered her house. "Hello, Joyce."

Buffy spun around, terror on her face. "Spike is at our house!"

"Xander can you take us there?" Anne asked

"Of course." He snapped his fingers, and in a flash, he, Anne, and Buffy appeared in front of the summers house. Anne and Buffy ran in as quickly yet as silently as they could. Xander on the other hand, just strolled in comfortably, knowing that Joyce was in no danger.

The twin girls ran into the kitchen, to find Joyce and Spike sitting down across from each other at the table, sipping on tea.

"Um... what?" Anne asked.

"Hello Anne, Buffy." Joyce greeted them with a smile.

"Slayers." Spike said, neutrally.

Buffy grabbed Spike by the throat, pulling him from the chair, and tossing him onto the table, where Anne grabbed his arm, and pinned him down.

"Buffy!" Joyce cried, "Anne, what are you doing?"

"Spike is dangerous." Buffy explained.

"Oh right," Spike said, "Like I could do anything to her, since your boy put this blasted thing in my head."

"It didn't stop you from taking Willow." Anne declared.

"You didn't." Joyce said, looking at Spike with a look of pure motherly disapproval, which caused a rather guilty look to cross Spike's face.

"Where is she?" Came the voice of Angel, who was passing by, when he saw Buffy and Anne throw spike around, then let himself into the house.

"Doesn't work like that, peaches. And when did you become all soul-having again? I thought you outgrew that." He turned his head to face Buffy and Anne, "Your friend's gonna work a little magic for me. She does my spell, I let her go."

"You're not famous for keeping promises, Spike." Anne pointed out.

"Well, you all, and your great poof here wanna tag along, that's fine. But you get in my way, and you kill your friend."

"We'll get her back, mom." Buffy guaranteed, before pulling Spike up from the table. Together, the group left, leaving Joyce Summers behind to worry.

They were passing an alley, when Spike suddenly stopped, and bent over.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, "Not that I care."

Spike grabbed the side of his head, "Oh... My head. I think I'm sobering up. It's horrible. Oh, God. I wish I was dead."

"If you close your eyes, and wish real hard..." Xander said, holding out his hand, with his forefinger and middle fingers in a position to snap.

Spike stood straight, "Hey, back off!"

"Would you rather be a jack-in-the-box again?" Xander asked. He would have sworn that the vampire somehow managed to pale slightly.

"We still need him to find Willow." Angel pointed out.

"Fine." Xander commented, not bringing up the point that he already knows where Willow was.

"Need him?" Anne asked, "He's probably just got her locked up in the factory."

"Well, hey, how thick do you think I am?" Spike demanded.

After arriving at the magic shop, Xander rolled his eyes, while Angel provoked Spike, making disparaging comments about Drusilla, and her feelings toward the blonde vampire.

Spike finally spun, and punched Angel in the face, then put his hand to his head, expecting to feel pain from his chip, but nothing happened.

"Hey, I can hurt demons!" He cried.

"Bout time you figured that out." Xander muttered.

He pulled back to swing on Angel again, when Buffy pulled him away, tossing him onto the floor.

"It's your fault, the both of you!" Spike shouted, "She belongs with me. I'm nothing without her."

"That I'll have to agree with." Buffy said. "You're pathetic, you know that? You're not even a loser anymore, you're a shell of a loser."

"Yeah, you're one to talk..." Spike muttered.

"Meaning?" Buffy asked.

"The last time I looked in on you two, you were deliriously in love. Now it's like you can barely look at each other."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Buffy declared.

"Oh yeah, you're so happy."

"That's right." Angel assured him.

"You're obviously not happy. The way you grimace at one another when they aren't looking. You're trying to force love, and it'll kill you both. You're thinking too hard. Love isn't brains, children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will. You are just missing it."

"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."

The silence could be cut with a knife, as they gathered the rest of the spell ingredients. Finally, they had everything.

"Ok, Spike where is she?" Buffy asked.

"What's your hurry?"

"The hurry is Cordelia's in trouble." Xander declared, "Let's go!"

Xander knew that Oz had smelled Willow's fear, and had tracked it to the factory, where Cordy fell through the crumbling stairs, impaling herself on an iron rod.

He snapped his fingers, and they vanished in a flash, reappearing in front of the factory. Anne, Buffy and Xander ran forward towards the door.

"No, not till she's done my spell!" Spike cried.

Angel swung on him, and instantly they were fighting like their lives depended on it. Moments later, it did, as a group of vampires, stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello, Spike." Said the leading vamp.

"Hello, Lenny." Spike replied. "How ya been?"

"Better since you left. You shoulda stayed gone."

"Stay here," Xander said to Anne and Buffy, "they'll need help, I'll get to Cordy."

He charged into the building, and stopped at the destroyed stairs, leading to the basement. Lying on the floor, under the ruined stairs was Cordelia Chase, a length of rusted rebar stabbing up through her side. Next to her knelt Oz and Willow.

"It's okay, Cordy, I'll fix you." He dropped to the ground next to her, then dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt."

With one strong tug, the rebar slid out from her side, leaving a gaping wound, running blood, and causing her to cry out. Xander pressed two fingers on his left hand to her forehead, and watched as the wound sealed instantly. Then he waved his hand over the wound, removing the blood, and repairing her shirt.

"How do you feel?" He asked.

"Kinda weak." She replied, smiling softly up at him.

"That's to be expected, you've lost a lot of blood, and you've just been impaled. You're fine now, but I'd recommend you get some rest." Xander snapped his fingers, and she vanished, reappearing in her bed at home.

"Let's get out of here." Xander said. One more snap, and the three remaining people were outside the front of the factory, where Buffy, Anne, Angel, and Spike were fighting off the last of the vampire posse.

"I heard you'd gone soft. Sad to see it, man." Said Lenny, as he was fighting Spike.

"Soft?" He asked, throwing a punch to Lenny's face.

"Like baby food."

"Well, then, let's give baby a taste." He said, as he lunged at Lenny, pinning him to the ground, and punching him repeatedly.

"Baby like his supper? Baby like his supper?" Spike asked a moment later, while he repeatedly bounced Lenny's head off the blacktop.

Xander conjured up a stake, and called to Spike.

"Here." He shouted, as he threw it to the blonde vampire, who quickly staked Lenny.

"Why doesn't baby have a nap?" He cried, as the stake pierced Lenny's chest. Spike then leapt to his feet. "Now that was fun."

Buffy and Angel look at him disbelievingly, while Anne just rolls here eyes. "Oh, don't tell me that wasn't fun. Oh, God! It's been so long since I had a decent spot of violence. Really puts things in perspective.

"I'm really glad I came here, you know? I've been all wrongheaded about this. Weeping, crawling, blaming everybody else. I want Dru back, I've just gotta be the man I was, the man she loved. I'm gonna do what I shoulda done in the first place: I'll find her, wherever she is, tie her up, torture her until she likes me again."

He turned and started to stroll away, before turning back one last time. "Love's a funny thing, ya know."

Then he was gone around the corner.

Anne looked around at the group. "Where's Cordelia?"

"She fell through the floor, and was impaled on a rebar." Xander explained, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Oh my god, is she alright?"

"She's fine. I healed her up, and sent her home, she needs a good nights rest."

As they headed for Oz's van, Xander contemplated the fact that the vampires were sent by the Mayor, and knew he had to do something about it.

-o0o-

The doors to the mayor's office slammed open and in walked a young man with black hair and a Hawaiian shirt that appeared to be moving.

"Well gosh," Said Mayor Richard Wilkins the third, "It seems a little rude to walk in here uninvited."

"You want to talk rude?" Xander demanded, "I think selling your soul is rude. I think creating a town for vampires and demons is rude. I think attempting to sacrifice babies to a demon is rather rude, don't you agree?"

"How do you know about my selling my soul?"

"I know all about you, Richard Wilkins. I'm here to give you one chance. Give up your plans for the ascension, or I will stop you."

"Well, you are just a little firecracker, aren't you? I'll thank you for your advice, and promise to give it a real good think over."

Xander leaned forward onto the mayors desk. "Just remember what happens to those who cross me."

Then he vanished in a flash of light.


	15. Chapter 15 – Early Assistance

I forgot to do this sooner, so... I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Stargate, Early Edition, Saved by the Bell, or any other material I use to cross over this story with.

Chapter 15 – Early Assistance

"Okay, let's see," Anne said, looking around, "We're in a city. The cars suggest current day. Are we in New York?"

"Close," Xander replied, as they stepped out of the alley they had first arrived in. "Chicago."

"What are we doing in Chicago?"

"Well we're not technically in Chicago. At least, not the Chicago you know. We're in a parallel universe."

Anne stared at him prompting him to explain. "There are nigh on infinite parallel Earths, some that are created by different decisions being made, like... there's one universe where you had cereal for breakfast, and one where you had eggs. That's the multi-verse theory.

"Now, similar universes are clustered together. Like in every world in a cluster, there is a Buffy the vampire slayer, and a Xander Harris. Maybe in one world I dressed as Q for Halloween, in a different one, I wore a different costume... for example. Also, the world you came from, to the world I brought you to is in the same cluster. But we're no longer in that cluster. We've jumped to a world with no vampires. No you, no me. The funny thing is, almost every book... movie... television show all exist as reality somewhere in the multi-verse.

"That's why we're going there." Xander said, pointing across the street.

Anne followed his pointer, then looked back to Xander. "A bar?"

"Technically, it's a pub. It's McGinty's pub."

"Who's McGinty?" Anne asked.

Xander grinned, "He was a nice Irishman who sold the bar last year. The current owner received the deed after saving the life of the man who had bought it, a land developer who was going to plow it under to build a parking lot."

"And why are we going there?"

"You'll see." He led the way across the street, and into the pub, where they sat at a table near the bar, and ordered food. While they were eating, Xander looked up. "I love you, you know that?"

Anne smiled widely. "I love you too."

"I haven't really asked, but how are you doing, coping with everything. Me with powers, being the man you love, but not the original, coming to a new world, all that."

Anne stared at her food for a minute, before replying. "Well... I'm alright, I guess. It was unexpected getting the opportunity to come to a new world, where all my friends and my mom were alive again. It's a gift I can never thank you enough for. It's nice having everyone back... but it's also strange, to be with the same man I loved, who isn't the same man. It's taking some getting used to."

"If there's anything I can do to help you adjust, you just let me know. I would do anything for you."

Anne sat silently, with a big smile on her face as she finished her food.

Xander glanced around, then spoke up for the the first time in a few minutes.

"Alright, see that guy over there," He said, nodding toward a man with short black hair, who was reading a newspaper, while sitting next to a black woman who was obviously blind. "His name is Gary Hobson. He's very special. You see, he receives the newspaper a day ahead of time, and uses it to save people's lives. Man's quite the hero."

"And we're here to help him?" Anne asked.

"That's the idea. Man spends his day every day, saving lives. I think he deserves a day off."

"And of course it's our job to give it to him." Anne commented. "I feel like we've become inter-dimensional trouble-shooters."

"Well, that is the idea." Xander agreed, "And it's the perfect day to give him that day off."

"What day is it?"

"Today? Why, Christmas day." Xander said, quoting 'A Christmas Carol'. Then Xander laughed, "Okay, so it's technically Christmas eve. Still, a good day to give him the day off.

Xander stood, and approached Gary, Anne following along behind. "Mister Hobson?"

The man looked up from his newspaper. "Yes?"

"We are big fans of yours, the way you use the paper to save lives."

"You're a hero." Anne added.

Gary looked shocked, as did the woman sitting next to him, who's name was Marissa Clark. "How do you know about that?"

Xander grinned, "I know all about you, Gary Hobson. We've been sent to give you a day off."

"What do you mean, a day off?"

"A day off from your work with the paper, being the hero."

"I don't understand." Gary said.

"It's simple, Mister Hobson," Xander replied. "We're here to save the day."

"I sorry, but the paper gets sent to me. It's my job to take care of. I can't just pass it off to someone else."

"That's fine." There was a flash of light on the bar, making a second newspaper appear. Gary was gobsmacked.

"I'll use my own. You take the day off, Mister Hobson."

"Bye." Anne said, waving at them. She followed Xander out the door, and they waved down a taxi to take them to the first incident in the paper.

'Man killed in construction accident'.

"It says here, that he died after being pinned under the crane for hours." Xander explained, "If we get it off him, we should be able to save his life."

They arrived at the construction sight, too late to clear the area, but just in time to see the crane collapse. They ran across the barren ground to where the crane had fallen. There was a worker pinned underneath the frame.

"I can't use my powers here, there are too many witnesses," Xander said, "Let's lift the crane."

"And lifting what's probably a multi-ton crane isn't a bad idea?" Anne asked.

"Not as bad as vanishing the whole thing in a bright flash of light." Xander replied.

"I guess you have a point."

They ran through the crowd of gathered construction workers, and approached the crane. They separated, Anne and Xander each grabbing the frame on one side of the pinned man.

"On three." Anne said, then counted.

Together, they lifted as carefully as they could. The metal screeched as it slowly moved up, enough to clear the man. It was the heaviest thing that Anne had ever lifted, and she knew without Xander helping her, she wouldn't be able to. Luckily, together, they were able to dead-lift the crane. Two construction workers pulled the man clear of the metal frame, and cried 'He's clear!'

Xander and Anne dropped the crane, kicking up a cloud of dust and rust. Anne was shaking out her arms, when Xander hugged her.

"Good work."

He pulled out the paper, and looked at it. The article changed to a general one about the construction accident.

"Who are you people, and how did you do that?" One of the men asked them.

"We're just passing by. Come on Anne." She followed Xander past the construction crew, and out of the fenced in property. Xander flagged down a cab, and they were on their way to their next mission.

'Man killed in attempted robbery.'

"This guy dies when he tries to break into a house by shimmying down the chimney, and gets stuck." Xander explained.

"Well that's stupid, only Santa can fit down chimneys." Anne said, making Xander smile at her innocence.

After arriving at the house in one of the higher end neighborhoods of Chicago, they watched the thief scale the side of the building.

"Hey, you shouldn't be doing that! It's not safe!" Anne cried, causing the man to jerk, and fall from the side of the building, breaking his leg upon impact with the ground. "Told you."

They turned to find a phone, to call an ambulance, just in time to run into Gary Hobson again.

"Hey, Gary." Anne greeted, smiling.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked.

"I told you, Gar, We got this, you take the day off. We just gotta call an ambulance for butterfingers over there."

Luckily, there was a payphone on the next block, which they used to call 911. (In America that's the emergency number, like I believe it's 999 in England.)

"So you are really helping with the paper today?" Hobson asked.

"We already told you we were, didn't you believe us?" Anne asked, looking crushed.

"Well... well of course I do." He stuttered, unsure how to respond to the sad looking girl, who immediately brightened.

"Now, we got work to do," Xander pointed out, "So we should hurry off, bye Gary."

Xander and Anne turned the corner and walked off, flagging down yet another cab to bring them to the event causing the next article. After saving a child from being hit by a car, they approached an apartment building, that had smoke billowing out of some of the windows.

"Okay, this is the last one." Xander told her, "Fire in the apartment building as you can see."

He cupped his hands together for a moment, before pulling them apart. In his hand, he was holding a small tube like device with a small mouthpiece. He handed it to Anne.

"Bite down on this, right here, it'll filter out the smoke, as you breath through your mouth. The fire will burn you, but you'll heal too quick to be bothered. Now let's go save lives."

Together they ran into the burning building, Xander choosing not to breath, as he went. They split up, Anne moving around the first floor, while Xander ascended the stairs, keeping low to see under the cloud of smoke, as he climbed to the second floor. He of course knew which rooms had people in them, and hurried to the third room on the left. He grabbed the door knob, but immediately pulled his hand back, at the heat coming through the knob. With one swift kick, the door was blown off the hinges. As the door flew inward, the moving of the air caused the flames in the room to rise up higher. Xander pushed his hands, palm out, away from each other, pushing the flames against the walls. Through the smoke, he could see a small girl, maybe no more then seven years old, curled up in the corner, crying.

"I've cleared the way," He told her, "Come on!"

The girl shook her head, obviously too scared. Xander pushed past the flames into the room, and scooped the girl into his arms. As he moved back to the door, the flames swelled up again, blocking the way. The girl cried out, terrified of being burned, and buried her face into Xander's chest. In a flash of light they were down on the ground floor, and he immediately carried the girl to the front door of the building, where paramedics were waiting. Unfortunately, traffic was keeping fire fighters from getting to the scene. As he hurried along, he passed Anne, who was clearing the last of the rooms on the ground floor.

"There's a woman on the third floor," Xander yelled over the sound of the flame crackling, and the creaking wood of the building, "But be careful, the stairs are damaged on the way up!"

"I got her!" Anne shouted back, after pulling the rebreather from her mouth, then replaced it before hurrying away.

Xander exited the building, and carrying the girl to the paramedics. He spoke, as he set her onto a stretcher. "She was near the flames, but I think she's alright, though she may have breathed in a bit of smoke."

As he then turned to head back into the building, the paramedic cried out, "You can't go back in there!"

"I have to! There's more people in danger." Xander turned and ran for the door, passing Anne who carried an unconscious woman in her arms. "There's one more on the fourth floor, I got him."

As soon as he was in the building, Xander flashed up to the fourth floor. The walls were covered in flames, and there was no way the man was getting out unscathed. Xander pushed on, through the flames, to the last room at the end of the hall. He kicked open the door, and could immediately see where the unconscious man's skin was red and blistered from the heat. Xander scooped him carefully into his arms, then flashed them back to the ground floor, where he carried him out to the paramedics. The whole time carrying the man, he was slightly healing him so that he would heal naturally without any scars.

As soon as Xander dropped the man onto a stretcher, to be loaded into an ambulance, he turned to see a flash bulb go off in his face. A reporter was snapping photo's of him and Anne. Xander sighed, not wanting any evidence of his and his girlfriends life saving actions, but at least it wasn't Gary Hobson being photographed. As he and Anne walked away, he pulled out the paper, and there on the front page was a photo of himself and Anne, and the headline 'Hero's save the day.'

They walked in silence for a while, before Anne spoke. "Can you do anything about my clothes? They smell like smoke."

Xander snapped his fingers, and dual flashes, she was changed out of her jeans and blouse, into a summer dress. He was wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and another moving Hawaiian shirt, this one showing a jungle circling a volcano, the magma appearing to slowly pour down the back of the shirt.

"So that's Early Edition." Xander said. Anne looked at him questioningly. "The name of the tv show, that follows Gary's life. Is there any show you'd like to visit? It probably exists out there somewhere."

"Well, now that you mention it..."

In two flashes, Anne and Xander were standing at the front door to a high school very different from Sunnydale High.

"Welcome to Bayside High."


	16. Chapter 16 – Faith Returns

AN: This is a repost of chapter 16 that I posted earlier today. If anyone already read it, then you might as well skip it. If you haven't then this is all new for you. I only had to correct like two lines to fix the problem, so for the most part, it's all the same as before.

Chapter 16 – Faith Returns

"Ow! Ooh! What are you, nuts? Going around punching people?" Cried the demon, that Buffy had just struck. She was on Patrol with Xander and Anne, a day after their trip to Saved by the bell land, and having just left a date with Angel, when they came across the demon who cried out at being hit.

Buffy pulled the hat off the head of the demon, before asking rhetorically, "People?"

"So what, I'm a demon. That makes it okay?" He asked.

Buffy readied her stake, while Anne, having met friendly aliens, was willing to give the demon a chance.

"Hold it, whoa!" The demon cried, "Stake me now, and you never find out what I got for ya, huh? Think about it. Demon seeks Slayers, highly unusual?"

"We're listening," Anne commented.

"Talk fast." Buffy ordered.

"How would you like to get your hands on the Books of Ascension?"

"Never heard of 'em." Anne said.

"I have." Xander commented. "How much?"

"Five large for the whole set."

"What are they?" Buffy asked.

"Books of Ascension." The Demon explained, "Very powerful works and I'm not talking about the prose. They deal with some, ah, dark stuff. And the Mayor would hate for somebody to get a hold before he, ah, well you know."

"We're not really looking to trade with a demon."

"And if this were still a barter economy, that would be a  
problem. I want cash, princess, Like I said, five thousand."

"What do you want cash for?" Buffy asked.

"Plane ticket. Out of the Hellmouth before its adios, Slayer Loco. So, five G's, what do you say?"

"Where are the books?" Xander asked. In a flash of light, he was holding a briefcase, "Cause I have the cash here, but I don't see my merchandise."

"Well, you'll have to follow me back to my home... and no staking!"

As they walked, Anne looked to Xander.

"Why do you want these books, Xan?"

"I don't really, but just in case the mayor didn't get my message, I'd rather he not have them."

"What message?" Anne asked.

"I'll explain all about it later." Xander told her.

They followed the demon back to his rat trap apartment, where he traded the books for the briefcase of cash, which the demon began to count as they left, and headed for the library. Xander vanished the books in a flash of light for now, figuring he'd give them to Giles to look through and add to his collection.

Upon arriving at the library, Xander sat at the table in a recliner he made appear, while Anne and Buffy remained standing, leaning against the table.

"The books of Ascension?" Giles asked. "I've... I've never heard of them. It's not really a common term in demonology."

Xander pointed to Giles' office. "In the top of your book cabinet with the stuff you try to keep hidden. The Marenschadt Text, the section on genocide mentions Ascension."

Giles headed into his office, coming out a minute later, with an open book in hand. "Ah, yes, yes, here we are. There's a reference here to the journal of Desmond Kane, pastor of a town called Sharpsville. 'May 26, 1723. 'Tomorrow is the Ascenscion. God help us all.' It was the last anyone heard."

"Of Kane?" Anne asked.

"Of Sharpsville." Giles replied, "The town more or less disappeared."

Xander explained, "Ascension in when a human become an upper tier demon."

"Oh my." Giles muttered, while cleaning his glasses.

"Why are we just hearing about this now?" Buffy asked.

"Cause so far it hasn't been a big deal. I confronted the mayor, and gave him an ultimatum. The basic 'stop or I'll stop you' spiel."

"You should have told us." Anne scolded him.

"I'm sorry." Xander said to her, "I felt I could handle it."

She put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Promise me, next time you'll tell us. You can't do everything on your own."

"I know. I'll include you, next time."

"Good, I coulda gotten a few hits in on the mayor." Anne said, making Xander laugh.

"There wasn't much hitting."

They packed up and headed for their homes, when Xander suddenly stopped. "I forgot something, I'll join you in a few."

He headed back to the library, just in time to see the slayer Faith, Books of Ascension in hand, heading for the door.

"Faith." Xander greeted.

"X-man." Faith replied, hatred dripping from her voice.

"I'm so sorry Faith."

"You... with all your power. You could have saved her."

"I'm sorry Faith, I let all my exploring distract me, and I failed you."

"She's dead because of you!" Faith screamed.

"There's nothing I can do to bring her back, you know if there was, I would do it. But to join up with the mayor, you're better then this."

"No, I'm really not." She turned and ran out the back entrance of the library, Xander letting her go.

"Who's dead?" Anne asked, stepping into the library from the main doors.

"Diana Dormer." Xander answered. "Faith's watcher."

"Oh my god. We need to find her, be there for her."

"It's too late. She's thrown her lot in with the mayor. He's still planning the ascension. She stole the books."

"We need to tell the others," Anne said.

"Yeah." Xander agreed, sounding lifeless.

"This isn't your fault."

"I let them down, I could have saved them, but I was too busy showing you the universe, I got distracted from what mattered. I need to go."

Xander vanished in a flash, moments later strolling through an bazaar on an alien world thousands of light years from earth. He wandered for a few hours, not knowing what he was doing, he felt lost.

"It's a great burden, isn't it?" Came a voice from a nearby alley. Xander turned, and watched as a man stepped out of the shadows.

"Q." It was the original Q, the one from Star Trek.

"It's a great burden, having all these powers, all this knowledge. Everyone expects us to save everyone, to always be the unflappable hero. It's why we formed the Q continuum. The rules exist in my home universe to prevent us from interfering too much, to prevent the humans from becoming too reliant, and looking to us as gods."

"It's never stopped you from interfering." Xander pointed out.

"Yes, but look at who I interfere with. Picard, and his crew often want me to leave, rather then expecting me to help them. I just stick around for my own entertainment."

"So why are you here?" Xander asked.

"I was sent by the continuum to teach you a lesson."

"So the Q are going to interfere in my life?"

"No. They agreed to leave you and this reality alone, their focus is in the continuum, and our home universe, what you call the Star Trek verse. We all felt the pain you were in, and they sent me to represent them, and to... help you."

Xander grinned, "And how do you expect to do that?"

"By making you realize that it's not your fault. What happened to that girls watcher isn't your responsibility. You may be Q, but even we can't save everyone."

"I let her down."

"No, you didn't. It's not your responsibility to save everyone. People die, it's part of life, and they have to accept that. Besides, you are Q, they are beneath you, petty little humans, scurrying about their lives, till they grow old, and die."

"Hey, I was human once."

"What was it like, all... wet and squishy?"

"Wet, and... eww. I'm so out of here." Xander vanished in a flash, returning to Sunnydale, Q having successfully distracted him from his depression.

Xander reappeared at Anne and Buffy's house, and knocked on the door.

"Xan!" Anne cried, as she threw herself at him. "Where have you been?"

Xander wrapped his arms around her in return, "I needed to do some soul searching."

"You don't still blame yourself for what happened to Faith's watcher, do you?"

"I dunno. I mean, maybe you are right. There was nothing I could have done. I may be Q, but even I can't save everyone."

"That's a healthy way of looking at the world." She replied, as she slid her arms around him. They stood holding each other for a moment, before Buffy came walking out of the darkness, looking quite worried.

"Buffy, what's the matter?" Anne asked.

"Faith is back in town. I saw her with Angel. They looked sort of intimate."

"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Anne commented, Trying to cheer up her sister.

"I dunno." Buffy disagreed, "Ever since he turned human, things have been strained between us, and now that he's a vampire again, he hasn't asked Xander to fix his soul in place, so he can't be happy, without loosing it again."

"What did Angel say?" Xander asked.

"You mean when I confronted him?" Buffy asked.

"So you bailed?"

"I couldn't. I mean, not-" She sighed heavily.

"Go. Talk to him." Anne said, grinning at Buffy.

She returned hours later, having found out that Faith was attempting to relieve him of his soul, but failing.

The next day, the group met at the library to discuss the plans for the mayor.

"Alright," Xander began, "I'm sorry to say, that Faith has returned, and has thrown her lot in with the mayor. Her watcher was killed, and she blames me for not saving her. The mayor, has performed a ritual, making himself invulnerable and unkillable until his ascension."

"So how do we stop him?" Anne asked, "Can you send him to one of those prisons?"

"I can, but it wouldn't stop the ascension. His transformation has already been kicked off. In less then three months, he becomes a demon."

"And that would be bad." Buffy commented.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "That would be bad."

"So that puts it right at-" Buffy began.

"Graduation day." Xander finished. "What we can do is wait until he turns into the demon, then kill him."

"So we wait." Willow pointed out.

"I hate waiting." Anne commented.

"Me too." Buffy agreed.


	17. Chapter 17 - The Mayor

AN: I had a lot of issues with this chapter, that's why it took so long. I wrote the first half of a very good chapter 17, then my computer crashed, and I lost it. After that, I gave up, and started my 'ship of the line' story. But Now I finally got up the drive to re-start this chapter. Sadly I don't think it's as good as the original. But still, enjoy.

ANII: The reason it is so short, is because I wanted to get something out fast, to let you all know I haven't given up on this story. I know it's kinda anti-climactic, but don't don't worry. I'm in the middle of writing Chapter 18, so you'll get a longer chapter soon.

Chapter 17 – The Mayor

"What? Where am I?" The blonde woman asked.

"I brought you back to Sunnydale."

"Why, Mister Harris?" The woman demanded.

"Because, Diana Dormer, I need you to save Faith."

"What do you mean?" She questioned, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's turned bad." Xander put it bluntly, "The thing is, I pulled you out of your time, and replaced you with a duplicate. That duplicate was soon killed, as it could have been you. Faith thinks you are dead. She joined the mayor, and is helping him in his plans for Ascension, as revenge for me letting you die. For not saving you."

"But I'm here, you did save me."

"Yes, well, She doesn't know that." Xander explained, "The first time I found out you died was when Faith told me, while she was stealing the books of Ascension. She hasn't killed anyone yet, but she is going to soon, so we still have time to save her."

Diana grabbed his arm roughly, "Well what are we waiting for then, let's go!"

Faith lay on top of a shipping crate at the Sunnydale airport, watching as a man with a box strapped to his wrist exited a small bi-engine airplane, and headed for a limousine. She had a crossbow in her hands, and was carefully aiming it at the handcuffed man. Her finger caressed the trigger and-

"Faith! Stop!"

Faith leapt up from her position, spinning around, to see the mother-figure she thought dead.

"D- Diana?"

Diana lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Faith. "Yes, it's me, it's okay, I'm here."

"But... but you died." Faith whispered from within Diana's embrace.

"Mister Harris saved me." She explained, "He pulled me out before I died. What you saw wasn't me."

With a clatter, the crossbow fell to the roof of the shipping crate, as Faith wrapped her arms around Diana, tears in her eyes. "I... I thought I'd never see you again."

"Oh, I love you, Faith," Diana said, "But you are better then this. Turning bad out of revenge. I thought I taught you better then that."

"I'm sorry." Faith sobbed, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Diana said, "No harm done." She turned to Xander, who was holding the box that a moment earlier was handcuffed to the man's hand. "Can you take us back home?"

"Of course." Xander said. The three vanished in a flash, reappearing at his mansion. "You two can stay here tonight. Tomorrow we need to confront the mayor. I've got his little box thing, and I need to deal with him, and I think I know how. I'm tired of waiting."

Not long after arriving, Diana excused herself to go to bed. After she was gone, Faith turned to Xander. "How? You said there was nothing you could do."

"Despite all my power, and all my knowledge, there are times that I don't see every angle, and it takes outside people to remind me just what I can really do."

"Well thank you." Faith said, before leaving the room, heading for bed herself.

The next morning, Xander flashed the three of them to the Library, carrying the box of Gavrok. When they arrived, Buffy, Anne, Jenny Calender, Willow and Oz were waiting within. "Hey, G-man, lookie who I found."

"Ah um.. Miss Dormer, Miss Lehane." Giles said, while cleaning his glasses, "How are you?"

Faith smiled at Diana, "Much better now." She didn't notice the looks Xander was being sent by Anne.

"I also got this." Xander said, as he set the box on the library table. Skittering could be heard coming from within. "The Box of Gavrok. The mayor needs to eat the spider-like creatures within as part of his Ascendance."

"Ah, well then it must be protected." Giles concluded.

"What do you think I'm doing?"Xander replied. "I just brought it here for you to see before I got rid of it."

"You don't think I'm going to let you do that, do you?"

The group spun to find the mayor, Richard Wilkins the Third standing in the entryway to the library. "Kids these days, always thinking they know what's good for them. Well I know better. Boys?"

The doors smashed open by the lead vampire, as fifteen others streamed in, forming a semi-circle behind the mayor, who smiled, as if he had just won a great prize, "Get them."

The vampires moved forward as one, and their charge was met by the three slayers. Xander watched the fight, for a moment, before moving over to the mayor.

"You didn't take my warning seriously."

"Well gosh, I just put so much time into preparing for my Ascension, it seemed a waste to just give up on it." he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You really should have listened." Xander stated.

The mayor raised his eyebrows, "And just what are you going to do about it?"

Xander grinned evilly, before raising his hand and snapping. All the vampires in the room vanished in flashes of light. "And that's just for starters."

There were three more light flashes, these extending from the hands of the three slayers, who were suddenly holding razor sharp swords.

"Ladies." Xander said, "Slice him up."

As the girls moved on the mayor, he looked to who he considered the weakest link. "Now Faith, I expected better from you."

"I never should have worked for you. My mom wouldn't like it." She was the first to swing her sword, taking the mayors head clean off. The head rolled across the floor, before stopping.

"Now that isn't going to stop me." Commented the head.

"You may be invulnerable, but you don't know how to use it." Xander said, before snapping his fingers, making the head vanish in a flash.

"What'd you do with him?"

"The same thing I'm going to do with the rest of his body." Xander turned to the headless body that was stumbling around, and it vanished too. "He wants to turn into a giant snake, I figure, he can feel free to do so. Sadly, it'll be on a desert planet where he can't harm anyone."

Anne threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him thoroughly, before backing away. "Good job."

"Now that the Mayor is dealt with, I'm up for a trip." Xander stated. "Who's in?"


	18. Chapter 18 - Serenity

AN: I read the thing about the people of this galaxy being 'the lost colonists' in another fanfiction. Sadly, I don't recall which one, so if you know, please let me know, and I'll add a reference to the story next chapter.

Chapter 18 - Serenity

"Now that the Mayor is dealt with, I'm up for a trip." Xander stated. "Who's in?"

"Ooo, Me!" Willow said, stepping closer to him.

"I'll go." Buffy said.

"Where we going?" Anne asked.

"I know just the place." Xander answered, "The future. Think space ships."

"I think I'll stay here, thank you." Giles stated. "I like my feet on Terra firma, thank you very much."

"Are you sure, G-man. There are going to be unique cultures to learn about."

Giles sighed heavily, looking at all the staring faces before acquiescing. "Oh alright."

"Great! Oz?"

"Cool." Oz commented with one sharp nod.

"What about you, Miss Calender?" Xander asked, "Wanna see the future?"

"How could I pass up a chance like that?" Jenny questioned.

"I'll stay here, and protect the Hellmouth, while you are away." Faith stated.

Xander nodded to her. "Alright, gather round." The group of six circled around Xander, then there was one great flash of light, and they were gone.

They found themselves exiting an alley into a busy marketplace. Xander, Oz, and Giles were in suits, while the women all wore rather intricate dresses. Xander himself carried a briefcase, the contents of which the others would soon find out.

"So, around the mid twenty-three hundreds, the earth is used up. That along with a series of deadly solar flares pushed the humans to set out to find new planets. Most of the humans end up forming colonies, and eventually the brunt of them return to Earth. The thing is, there's one group, that heads out on their generation ships, and get lost in the far flung reaches of the universe. They are known as the lost colonists.

"Now, these colonists live on the generation ships, multiple generations are born, grow old, and die there, until finally they stumble upon this galaxy, where they terraform the planets, and settle here. The core planets are all civil, while the outer planets are more wild. And that's not even talking about the rim planets. It's like a space western here."

"Are we safe?" Giles asked.

"As long as I exist," Xander stated, "No harm will come to any of you, this I promise. So anyway, this is the planet Persephone. They have great shopping here, then we'll head to the Eavesdown Docks."

Xander led the way to the dockside bazaar where they spent a few hours looking through the booths, the women picking out souvenirs, while Oz and Giles sent Xander death glares for taking them shopping.

At one point Giles had to ask. "Why um... Why are the people speaking a mix of English and Chinese?"

"Of all the nations on Earth-that-was, America and China were the most powerful. Those were also the two that worked together to create the generation ships. So in the end, they merged together into one culture."

"That is interesting, how cultures can merge like that." Giles and Jenny began a conversation about it, while Oz peacefully followed the group through their shopping.

"Alright, it's near time, let's head to the Docks." Xander said.

"Why are we going there?" Willow asked.

"We are going to barter for passage on a spaceship. I am looking for a specific group, that have big things to do in this galaxy, and we are going to help them."

Xander snapped his fingers, creating a bag for each of them, and a waist high metal crate on a hover cart in front of himself.

"What are these for?" Buffy asked.

"Clothes for you all, it would look strange if we didn't have any baggage, and this is full of frozen meat and vegetables for everyone to eat. Trust me, you don't want to eat the packaged protein that is usual fare on spaceships."

They walked along, the group oohing and ahhing over the assortment of spaceships, before Xander stopped them near the open airlock of a large, somewhat strangely shaped ship.

"Are you looking for passage?" A girl sitting in a lawn chair holding a parasol asked. "You don't seem to be looking at the other ships."

"Maybe I'm just looking for the right ship." Xander noted.

"Then you found her." The girl stated, "This is Serenity, the best ship in the 'Verse."

"Where you headed?" Xander asked.

"Boros." She answered. "And we'll take you along if the price is right."

Xander approached the girl, and held up the briefcase he was carrying, the seam facing himself. He then opened the case. The girls eyes went wide, staring at what was inside the briefcase. It contained a set of metal bars.

"Ten thousand platinum for me and my friends." He nodded his head toward the group, as his hands were busy holding the open briefcase.

"Oh, um... it'll be a bit tight, there being seven of you." The girl said. "Oh, By the way, I'm Kaylee."

A black man with gray hair walked out of the Firefly from the direction Xander knew led to the passenger quarters. "Oh, and this is Shepherd Book."

"Hello, Shepherd." Xander said, "This is Anne and her sister Buffy, Giles and his girlfriend Jenny, and Willow and her boyfriend Oz. He's sort of our shepherd."

Oz grinned, before speaking, "Not a real shepherd."

"I understand son." Book said, "And it is a pleasure to meet you all."

"Anyway, we don't really mind pairing up for the trip, we're all one big happy family here."

"We have two other passengers, who are currently in their rooms." Kaylee explained, "One is a doctor."

"Always good to have a doctor available." Anne commented.

They were led to the passenger quarters at the back of the ship, and paired up to share the rooms. Once alone, Xander enlarged the rooms, and created second beds in them, along with a notice-me-not type effect, so that no one would realize the rooms had gotten larger and more comfortable. They each picked a room, and set their luggage in place, before leaving. Soon after, they moved to the dining area, to meet Kaylee, along with two other gentlemen, and a woman.

"This is the Captain, Malcolm Reynolds." Kaylee explained.

"There are a lot of people here, Kaylee," Mal whispered to her, too softly for anyone but Anne, Buffy, and Xander to hear.

"Most of them are one party, Cap'n." Kaylee replied, "And they paid in platinum... A lot of Platinum."

"Well then." Mal said, seeming overjoyed. He turned back to the group of passengers, his voice returning to a speaking volume, "Meals are taken up here in the dining area, the kitchen is pretty much self explanatory, you're welcome to eat what there is any time. What there is is pretty standard fare, I guess, protein in all the colors of the rainbow. We do have sit-down meals, the next one being at about 1800, though if everyone is there, it might be a little tight."

"I think Shepherd Book has offered to help me prepare something." Kaylee said.

Mal turned to Book, You're a shepherd?"

"Thought the outfit gave it away," Book replied, "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Of course not," Kaylee interjected, before turning to Mal, "It's no problem, 'cause it's not."

Mal looked at Kaylee for a moment, before speaking, "No." He then turned to the passengers "As I said, you're welcome to visit the dining area any time. Apart from that, I have to ask you to stay in the passenger dorm while we're in the air. The bridge, the engine room, cargo bay – they're all off limits without an escort.

The brown haired man in the suit spoke up for the first time. Xander knew him to be the Doctor Kaylee mentioned before, "Some of my personal effects are in the cargo bay."

"I figure you all got luggage you're gonna need to get into. Soon as we're done here we'll be happy to fetch 'em with  
you. Now I have to tell you all one other thing and I apologize in advance for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, we've been ordered by the Alliance to drop some medical  
supplies off on Whitefall. It's the fourth moon on Athens, a little out of our way, but we should have you on Boros no more than a day off schedule.

"What medical supplies?" The doctor asked.

"I honestly didn't ask." Mal said.

"Probably plasma, insulin, whatever they ain't got enough of on the border moons."

Ooo!" Willow cried, "Can we get out and explore, while you're dropping stuff off?"

"I'd rather you not, little lady." Mal said, "The border moons are dangerous places, and I'd rather you not be getting hurt, while in my care."

"Aww." She groaned.

"Don't worry, Wills," Xander whispered to her, "We can always flash on over there, and explore."

Her grin widened and she seemed happy again.

Mal turned to the tall dark skinned woman, "Zoe, do you want to take them to the cargo bay?"

"Yes sir." She led the gathered group to the Cargo Bay, where Simon the Doctor, Book the Shepherd and Dobson, the man Xander knew to be an agent of the Alliance, went through their belongings. Xander and his friends watched as Book climbed the stairs and passed a bag and a box to Kaylee, who seemed quite pleased. Moments later, they were joined by an elegantly dressed woman, with long dark hair.

"Ah," Mal said, "The Ambassador graces us with her presence."

"Hello, Mal." The elegant woman said, "I see we have many new faces."

"Hey you." Kaylee said to her, to which she answered in kind.

"I'd have to say, this is the first time we have a preacher on board."

Xander stepped forward, slipping into the conversation. "Wow... You guys have a Companion on board. Are you a passenger as well?"

"No, I rent the shuttle to make my living. How did you know I am a companion?" The woman questioned.

"Oh come on, A beautiful woman who moves like flowing water, how could you not be a companion. Your training shows."

"What's a companion?" Willow asked Buffy, who just shrugged, not knowing either.

Xander introduced himself, and his friends to the woman, who said her name was Inara Serra.

"So you're not a state official, then?" Book asked, seeming uncomfortable.

"She's a whore, Shepherd." Mal stated blatantly.

"The term is Companion!" Kaylee demanded, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, I always get those mixed up." Mal said, before turning to Inara, "How's business?"

"None of yours." Inara said, angrily.

"Mal turned back to Book, "She is pretty much our ambassador. There's plenty of planets won't even let you dock without a decent Companion on board. This... this isn't a problem for you, is it Shepherd?"

Inara turned to head back to her shuttle, "It's all right. I mostly keep to myself. When I'm not whoring." The last line she spat at Mal as she passed him, still angry about his attitude to her profession.

"Don't you want to meet the rest of the bunch?" Mal asked.

"Why don't you make sure they want to meet me first." The companion called back as she stormed away, Kaylee following.

"Hey, Kaylee, I have some food stuffs for you." Xander called, which stopped Kaylee in her tracks.

She spun, and ran back, "You too?"

"You mentioned cooking, and well... I brought food to eat, because this is my friend's first time space traveling, and I don't want to inflict protein packs on them."

"You've never been on a space ship, before?" Kaylee asked.

"Nope." Willow answered excitedly, "This is out first time."

Xander walked down the stairs to the floor of the cargo bay with Kaylee, Willow following along. He then pressed a button on the metal crate he had brought onto the ship, causing the top to open with a hiss.

"Wow!" Kaylee cried, as the frosty mist wafted out from inside. The box was organized, filled with meats and vegetables. Willow was being nosy, looking to see what was in the crate, before returning to the others standing on the stair's landing.

After Kaylee headed for the kitchen, Xander and his friends headed for their rooms on the back of the ship, where he expanded Anne and Buffy's room further, creating a central lounge -like space for everyone to gather. He then snapped his fingers, making a gray metal machine appear on the counter.

"What's that?" Jenny asked, her interest in technology coming to the fore.

"It's a replicator, like from Star Trek." He looked to the machine, and gave it a command. "Tea. Earl Gray. Hot."

In a swirl of light, a china cup appeared. Xander picked it up, and carefully handed it to Giles, before looking to the rest. "Anyone else want anything?"

They all gathered around to order drinks, until Xander was the last one, who stood there undecided.

"Grape soda... Orange soda. Orange soda? Maybe Grape. Hmm."

Suddenly Willow burst, having kept her questions inside all this time, "What's a Companion, and why did the captain call her a-"

She mouthed the last word, refusing to say what she considered a dirty word.

"She's a prostitute." Xander explained, "They are more then just corner street hookers, in the future. They train from about twelve years old, to be graceful and articulate, yet tough and combat savvy. She can fight hand to hand, fire a number of weapons, including bow and arrow, and handle a sword proficiently."

"Wow." Buffy said, "If it weren't for the sex, I'd say she was like a slayer."

"She's the consummate professional. Speaking of which, G-man, you should ask her to perform the Companion Greeting Ceremony. It's the only place in this galaxy to get a good cup of tea... You know, aside from my replicator."

They sat for two hours talking, with Xander answering questions about the history of the 'lost colonists', before heading to the dining hall to join the rest of the crew and passengers for dinner.

"Oh this is incredible." Zoe said, as she placed some tomatoes and roast beef on her plate.

"It's not much." Book said, "I had a garden at the Abbey, thought I should bring what I could. Though we have Mister Harris to thank for the roast."

"Please, Shepherd, call me Xander. I hear Mister Harris, I think I'm still in school." He said, causing people around the table to snicker.

"It's very kind of you to share with all of us." Simon added.

"Well, it won't last," Book pointed out, "And they're never the same when they're frozen. The important thing is the spices. A man can live on packaged food from here 'til Judgment Day if he's got enough rosemary."

Book looked to Mal, "Captain, do you mind if I say grace?"

"Only if you say it out loud." The Captain replied.

Book, Jayne the big gun enthusiast, and Kaylee bowed their heads, for a moment, before starting to eat.

After a moment of silence, Simon was the first to speak, "So, does it happen a lot? Government commandeering your ship, telling you where to go?"

"That's what governments are for," Mal replied, "Get in a man's way."

"He really has issues with the government." Anne whispered, from the couch where she was sitting with Xander, as there wasn't enough space around the table.

"Remember what I said earlier about the war. He was a brown coat, on the loosing side. Ever since, he's been against the government, and against believing in God."

The scoobies sat and listened as they discussed the state of the border moons, involving plague and famine, which scared Willow, until Xander guaranteed that she wouldn't be catching anything while on this trip.

"Why do they call it 'Earth-that-was'?" Jenny asked.

"They don't know that the Earth is fine. As far as they know, the solar flares roasted it and it's a dead world. They have no idea."

They continued to eat in silence, until Jayne said something awful about Kaylee, and Mal told him to leave. He then made a quip about Jayne being in public relations.

"What does he do for the crew?" Anne asked.

Xander rolled his eyes, "He should have said security, it would have at least been believable. He's the muscle. They are thieves, and pirates. They are a good bunch, have a high moral code, but still..."

"Is it really a good idea to talk about them where they can hear us?" Giles asked.

"Oh, they can't." Xander replied, "I'm blocking all sound from leaving this area."

He looked to the table where the rest were now eating in silence, "Hey! Hey, can you hear me?"

He turned to Giles. "See? Nothing.."

They continued to talk, Giles wanting to know more about the war, and Xander explaining how the brown coats lost at the battle of Serenity Valley, and how Malcolm Reynolds named his ship Serenity after the battle. Eventually, dinner was over, and they returned to their rooms for the night.

At least, that was the plan. Buffy, Anne, and Xander were drawn to the Cargo Bay by shouting coming from within. As the moved toward the bay entrance, they came upon Kaylee heading the same way.

"Why's everybody-" Kaylee began, when a gunshot rang out. Xander reacted without thinking, throwing his hand outward palm forward, moving faster then the human eye could see. The bullet froze in mid air for a moment, before harmlessly falling to the deck. Kaylee stared wide-eyed at the bullet that lay less then six inches from her.

Mal dove for his weapon which was lying on the the ground where he had been forced to drop it, when Dobson had pulled his own gun. Jayne drew his gun, but Book was faster. He lunged at Dobson, jabbing him in the throat, before disarming the Alliance agent, then hitting him in the face, dropping him unconscious.

Simon ran over to Kaylee, giving her a once over, checking to see if she was hit, his medical training taking over.

"I'm okay." She insisted, as she was joined by Inara, who was drawn by the sound of the shot.

Meanwhile, Book and Jayne were arguing, as Jayne wanted to kill the Fed, and Book was protecting him.

"You're not killing this man." Book insisted.

"Not right away." Jayne replied.

"He's no threat."

"Move." Jayne ordered.

"Not gonna happen." Book declared.

Jayne raised his gun, pointing it at Book, "I ain't joking with you, Preacher."

"Jayne!" Zoe shouted. They both looked to see the woman with her own gun in hand, "Just tie him up. Do it."

Jayne grumbled, but complied.

Kaylee finally stopped staring at the bullet, and turned to Xander. "Thank you."

He just smiled at her, and shrugged.

"What are you thanking him for, Mei Mei?" Inara asked.

"He saved my life." She stated.

At that moment the voice of the pilot, Wash, came over the comm, "Captain, we've been hailed by a Cruiser. Ordered to stay on course and dock for prisoner transfer."

Simon looked terrified, "Change course. Run, please."

"Hell with you," Mal said, "You brought this down  
on us, I'm dumping you with the law."

"Mal." Inara objected.

"No way the Fed's'll let us walk." Zoe commented.

"Then we dump him in a shuttle and leave him for them."

"Cap'n, you can't." Kaylee demanded.

"Captain," Xander spoke up, "You are better than this. He's just trying to protect his sister. They tortured her, and experimented on her, and he just wants to save her. You aren't the type of man to give them over to the Alliance."

"How could you possibly know that?" Simon questioned.

Xander ignored Simon, watching Mal's internal struggle. Finally he looked at his second in command.

"Zoe, change course."

She walked over to the intercom, and hit the button, "Wash, change course and go for hard burn. We're runnin'."

Simon sighed heavily, "Thank you, captain."

"Don't thank me yet." Mal said, "I'm liable to throw you off at Whitefall."

"Mal, you know those two wouldn't survive a day in Whitefall." Inara told him, "You throw them out, I'm leaving too."

Mal rubbed his hands on his face, before walking over to the crate that Simon had brought aboard. "So your sister is in here?"

"She's in cryostasis, shouldn't be woken up for another week." He sighed heavily.

"I am very smart." Simon explained. Xander had sent Buffy and Anne to awaken Giles, and the rest, then they all moved to the dining area where the Doctor began the explanation. "I went to the best Med-acad in Osiris, top three percent of my class, finished my internship in eight months. 'Gifted' is the term. So when I tell you that my little sister makes me look like an idiot child, I want you to understand my full meaning. River was more than gifted. She... she was a gift. Everything she did, music, math, theoretical physics, even - even dance - there was nothing that didn't come as naturally to her as breathing does to us."

He paused for a moment, a smile crossing his face, as he remembered something, "She could be a real... brat about it,  
too. I mean, she used to..."

He trailed off, seeing the look on Jayne's face. "There was a... a school... a, uh, a government-sponsored academy. We had never even heard of it but it had the most exciting program, the most challenging. We could have sent her anywhere, we had the money, but she wanted to go. She wanted to learn. She was fourteen."

He paused for a long beat, before continuing, "I... I got a few letters at first, and then I didn't hear for months. Finally I got a letter that made no sense. She-she talked about things that never happened, jokes we never... it was code. It just said... 'They're hurting us. Get me out.'

They all sat in silence for a moment, before Zoe spoke up, "How did you do it?"

"Money. And, and luck. For two years, I couldn't get near her. Then I was contacted by some men, some underground movement. They-they said she was in danger, that-that the government was... playing with her brain. If I funded them they could sneak her out in cryo. Get her to Persephone, and from there, I could take her... wherever."

"That's... quite a story son." Book commented.

"Yeah, it's a tale of woe." Mal said, "Very stirring, but in the meantime, you've heaped a world of trouble on me and mine. "

"I never thought-" Simon began, before being interrupted by the Captain.

"No, I don't imagine you thought. In consequence of which we got a kidnapped federal officer on board, we got the Alliance hard on our trail."

Zoe turned to Wash, how much does the Alliance know?"

"I can't say. I killed the message pretty quick, so they might just have had our position.

"Or they might have personal profiles on each and every one of us." Mal pointed out, "Til that fed wakes up, we won't know."

"So what do we do?"

Mal stopped to think over the options for a moment, before answering. "The job. We finish the job. I got word from Patience, she's waiting for us. We circle 'round to Whitefall, make the deal, get out. Keep flying.

"Now. What about you?" Mal asked, turning to Xander. "You some Alliance agent? Maybe you should be tied up along side your buddy, there."

"I'm no Fed." Xander reassured them.

"You're not tying him up." Anne declared.

"No we're not." Kaylee agreed, "He saved my life. Although how he did that I'm still foggy on."

"I didn't do anything." Xander rebutted.

"Yes you did." Kaylee argued, "I saw you. You threw out your hand, and the bullet just... stopped. It stopped in midair right in front of me."

Xander rubbed his hands over his face before suddenly it was like time froze for the crew of the Serenity. They were all frozen in place, the only people moving were Xander and his friends. He looked to Giles. "What do you think I should do? I mean I could just erase their memories, but I get the feeling that the truth is the right way to go, here."

"I can't see any other option." The librarian commented as he walked around the frozen crew members inspecting them. He was right in front of Mal, when the Captain suddenly jerked back, as time re-started.

"Gah-!" Mal cried, having seen Giles standing on the far side of the table, from his perspective suddenly appearing right in front of him.

"Uh... Sorry." Giles said, moving back to the far side of the room, glaring at Xander the whole way, who couldn't help but snicker.

"Alright. I'll tell you guys the truth. It seems like the time for honesty, doesn't it."

He took a deep breath. "I am a member of a race known as the Q. We are energy beings with immense powers over reality itself."

"You're an alien?" Kaylee asked.

"No. I was human once. I'm simply what humans have the potential to become."

"You're buying this?" Mal asked, looking at Kaylee.

"I saw what he can do, Cap'n." She stated.

"Darlin' you ain't seen nothin' yet." Xander said, before snapping his fingers. They were all momentarily blinded by a flash of light, then they saw the table covered in food, more food then they had ever seen in one place.

"Wǒ de mā!" Zoe exclaimed in disbelief.

"I know, right? And here's another." A second white flash drew their attention, this time to Kaylee's hands. She was suddenly holding a large metal spiral. "A new compression coil. I understand you needed one."

"Oh, Cap'n, can we keep him?"

"Now, Kaylee-" Mal began sounding exasperated, but Kaylee was already heading for the engine room to replace the coil.

"What are we going to do with the Fed?"

"I'm scratching my head as to why we ain't dealt with him." Jayne stated.

"Kill a fed?" Zoe asked, disbelievingly, "Can you think of a stupider thing to do?"

"He can ID us all." Jayne argued.

"Can we maybe vote on the whole murdering people issue?" Wash asked.

"We don't vote on my ship because my ship is not the rutting town hall!" Mal declared.

"This is insanity, Mal." Inara stated.

"I happen to think we're a ways beyond that now, sir." Wash turned to Zoe, "Come on, we're gonna talk this  
through, yeah?"

"I'll not sit by while there's killing here." Book added.

Jayne grinned sarcastically, "Shepherd's got a mean streak, we'd better walk soft."

"Nimen de bizui!" (Everybody shut the hell up!) Mal ordered, causing everyone to go quiet. "Way it is is the way it is. We got to deal with what's in front of us."

"That doesn't mean killing." Xander said. "I'll just wipe his memory of ever being on this ship, and drop him back on Persephone."

"You can do that?" Kaylee asked.

"I am Q." Xander answered, "I can do anything I want."

"Before we do anything, we need to know how much the Fed told the Alliance. Jayne, you're with me." Together the two men left the dining area, and headed for the passenger room, where they had lain the unconscious fed. Moments later, Kaylee returned, confused at seeing everyone standing around the dining area.

"Why is no one eating?" She asked, before sitting in her chair, and picking at the food.

"Ooo, what's this?" She asked.

"A taco." Willow answered, confused as to how she didn't know that.

"These are all foods that you could get on Earth-that-was. Tacos, Fish and chips, a selection of French cheeses, Polish Kielbasa sausage, German Sauerbraten with potato dumplings... and more, from places other then America and China."

They had only been enjoying the meal for a few minutes, when Mal ran past on his way to the bridge.

"Sir?" Zoe called, before standing, and following him. Everyone else sat around the table, waiting for him to return. A moment later, his voice came over the comm. "This is the Captain. We're passing another ship. Looks to be Reavers. From the size, probably a raiding party. Could be they're headed somewhere particular, could be they've already hit someone and they're full up. So everyone stay calm. We try to run, they'll have to chase us. It's their way. We're holding course. We should be passing 'em in a minute, so we'll see what they do."

"What are Reavers?" Willow asked.

"I've heard of them," Simon said, "Well, campfire stories... Men gone savage on the edge of space, killing, and..."

"They aren't stories." Kaylee said sadly.

"They are people driven insane by a chemical The Alliance put into the air purifiers on a planet during it's terraforming."

"My lord." Book commented.

"Oh my god!" Buffy, Willow, and Kaylee cried at the same time.

"Tell me you are going to do something to help them!" Anne demanded.

"Of course." Xander said, standing from his chair, his friends doing the same. He snapped his fingers, a wicked looking ax appearing in Anne's hand, while a sword appeared in Buffy's.

"We're going to fight?" Anne asked.

"Sort of, I need you two to distract the Reavers, while I fix their ship. If I cure them while the ship is in the condition it is in, the radiation will kill them.

"Radiation!?" Buffy cried.

"Don't worry, you will both be immune to it." Xander said. He turned to Giles. "You three don't need to be here for this. Would you like me to send you home?"

Giles looked to the others, before answering, "I think that would be a good idea. Thank you for taking us on this trip."

"Of course, it was my pleasure to have you here." He snapped his fingers, returning Oz, Willow, Jenny, and Giles to the Library, mere moments after they left.

"Alright, a-Reaver hunting we will go." Xander said, before willing he, Buffy, and Anne to vanish as well.

"Oh my gosh!" Kaylee cried, before running to the bridge.

"They went there!"

"What's that Mei Mei?" Mal asked.

"They went over to the Reaver ship. Xander made them vanish in a flash of light. He said they were going to cure the Reavers."

"Are they out of their gorram minds?"

Xander, Buffy and Anne reappeared in a dark corridor just off the engine room of the Reaver ship.

"Shh," Xander said softly, "This way."

He led them to a closed bulkhead, and slowly opened it a crack, looking through the exposed space. He then looked back to the two girls. "We need to clear the room, so I can fix the engine."

Xander stepped back, as the girls shoved the door open, and charged inside. The two Reavers within appeared shocked momentarily, before roaring, and scooping up knives. They then lunged at the two blondes, who parried their weapons away, and fought for their lives.

"Don't kill them." Xander called, as he hurried to the engine, and looked it over, before touching it with the palm of his hand. He watched as pieces appeared one at a time, quickly repairing the damage.

He then turned to see two unconscious Reavers, as more poured into the room. Anne and Buffy were fighting hard, but were quickly outnumbered.

"Here goes." Xander announced, before snapping his fingers. There was a series of flashes, and each Reaver was replaced by a healthy person, looking confused.

"Um... where are we?" One of the people asked.

"Hello." Xander said, "I am Q. This is Anne and Buffy. We will be your saviors today."

Mal, Zoe, and Wash watched as the Reaver ship slowed, before Wash noticed a light blinking on the console, the incoming message light.

"Mal, we got an incoming wave."

"Let's hear it."

Wash pressed a button, and a voice came over the radio. "Hello, Captain, and everyone else listening."

"Xander?" Zoe asked.

"That's me, on what used to be a Reaver ship, but is now Reaver free."

"You cured them... you lived?"

"Of course. It's not like I could die. And I'm not going to let my friends die, either." Xander explained, "Anyway, I've refueled their ship, and they are on their way to Highgate. We'll be back on board Serenity in just a minute."

"Um... alright Xander, see you then." Mal was mystified as to how he got into these situations.

A minute later, Xander came strolling onto the bridge of Serenity, as if he didn't have a care in the world. "We're back."

"Wǒ de mā!" Mal muttered, seeing the nonchalant way Xander was acting after coming back from a Reaver ship. He took a deep breath, before turning away from Xander, and back to Wash. "Let's head to Whitefall, and finish the deal."

Mal caught up to Xander as he was entering the Dining area. "Can I ask what you were thinking, going to a Reaver ship?"

"Had to save the people there." Xander answered, "Also, if I didn't they would have followed you to Whitefall. This ship would have made it out, but there are a lot of people on that moon that would have died."

Well... that's a might bit honorable of you." Mal commented.

"Also, I dealt with the Fed. He's back on Persephone, no memory of this ship or it's crew."

"Hang on," Kaylee interrupted, "What was that bit about the Alliance creating the Reavers?"

"Sure sure." Xander replied, "Ever heard of the planet Miranda?"

"I've heard stories." Mal said, "there was some terraforming accident."

"Oh, there was no accident." Xander informed them, "The Alliance created a chemical, called G-23 Paxilon Hydrochlorate. The idea was that it would make the people of the planet Miranda more peaceful and more susceptible to control. What really happened, though, is that the population had an extreme reaction. Most of the people just lay down, doing nothing, until they starved to death."

"That is just like something the Alliance would do." Mal muttered.

"The problem, is that about ten percent of the population had the opposite reaction. They were driven homicidally insane."

"The gorram Alliance made the Reavers."

"And they will do anything to keep that a secret. The problem, is that one of the techs working on River made a mistake. He wanted to show off his work, so he brought in some of the highest ranking members of the government in the same room as a reader. That's why they want her back so badly."

"Can we do anything about it?"

Xander held up his hand, a flash of light making a hard drive appear in his hand. "This is all the proof you need to blow open the Alliance's biggest secret. But be careful Mal. If you set this to go public, you may be pushing the Alliance and the Independents into another war."

He turned to Anne and Buffy. "Time to go home. We'll be back, when needed, Mal. See you soon."

They disappeared in three light flashes, Mal not even noticing, as he stared intently at the hard drive that Xander had given him, lost as to what to do. The three time travelers reappeared in the Sunnydale High School library, just a few minutes after he had dropped off Giles, Oz, Jenny, and Willow.

"Buffy! Anne! Xander!" Willow cried, throwing her arms around them in a big group hug. "I was so worried about you guys, going to that Reaver ship all alone."

"Do you really think I'd have let anything happen to them?" Xander asked.

"Well of course not." Willow admitted, "Doesn't mean I'm not going to worry."

"That's why we love you, Willow."


	19. Chapter 19 - Fighting The Good Fight

AN: This is it! The Chapter I know you've all been waiting for. This chapter was the first one I pictured before I started this story, and I've been looking forward to writing it ever since.

Chapter 19 – Fighting the Good Fight

Xander was staring at the big metallic ring, the Stargate, that he had pulled from the Arctic ice and moved to a secured warehouse in Sunnydale, when he felt that little tug that told him he was being called for. Following it back to it's origination He ended up at Buffy and Anne's house, where they were both sitting at the kitchen table.

"I'm bored!" Buffy whined. It had been nearly a month since the disappearance of the Mayor, and their trip to the spaceship Serenity, and there had hardly been any vampire activity, definitely not enough to keep two slayers busy.

"Me too!" Anne complained, "Xander take us somewhere."

"Somewhere pretty." Buffy said, leaping up from her reclining chair.

"Somewhere amazing." Anne added, standing as well.

"Somewhere with fights."

"Ooo, yeah, somewhere with fights."

Xander thought for a moment, "I know just the place."

The three vanished in a flash of light, reappearing standing in a green field, with a dark forest to their backs, and a lake to their right. A short distance away, they could see a massive castle, with towers that kissed the sky. The only light came from the castle windows, and torches along a path that led from the lake to the castle doors. That, and the half moon.

"Wow." Buffy stated.

"Where are we?" Anne asked.

"Welcome to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Xander answered.

Buffy grinned, "Cool, we should send Willow to this school."

"I don't know if that would work. Magic in this universe is a bit different than what is used in the reality we come from." Xander said, "Of course, I could just give her this type of magic, if she really wanted it."

They set off through the dark, moving quickly for the massive doors to Hogwarts castle. As they walked, Xander began to softly explain the basics about Harry Potter, and Voldemort. They soon reached the castle and slipped quietly through the main doors, then crossed the entrance hall following the sounds of numerous voices echoing past a second set of massive wooden doors. Xander flicked out his right hand, causing the doors to swing open, slamming against the walls to either side with a deafening crash.

Everyone within went silent and turned as one, looking to see who had caused the noise.

"Are we late?" Xander quipped, Anne and Buffy grinning behind them.

A black-haired woman in an emerald green robe and pointed hat stepped forward, a wand in her hand, though not yet pointed at anyone. "And who exactly are you?"

"I am Q. This is Anne and this is Buffy and we've come to help you in your fight against the Dark Lord."

She carefully eyed their clothing before speaking, "But... you're Muggles."

Xander snapped his fingers, causing Anne and Buffy to be enveloped in flashes of white light, which quickly died down, showing they were now wearing robes.

"Better? And we're not... really Muggles. These two," He stuck his thumb out at the girls, "Are magically empowered warriors, and I'm an omnipotent super-being."

"Oh well... Alright then." The woman, who was named McGonagall, said seeming mystified, before turning her attention back to the students gathered before her. "As I was saying, we have no time to collect possessions, the important thing is to get you out of here safely."

"Where's Professor Snape?" A girl at one of the tables called. As McGonagall answered the question, Xander led the slayers to what he knew to be the Gryffindor table, where they sat with the older students.

Next, Professor McGonagall began to explain about the protections around the castle, but didn't get very far, before a deeply sinister voice began to echo throughout the room, as if coming from the walls itself. "I know that you are preparing to fight."

Xander looked around, noticing that many of the students were terrified of that voice, "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

Xander nodded to the girls, letting them know that indeed, yes that was Voldemort.

"Give me Harry Potter," The echoing voice said, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Every eye in the place turned to look at the bespectacled boy with the lightening bolt scar. A pug-faced girl from the green bannered table cried out, "But he's there! Potter's there! Someone grab him!"

As one, the students of the school stood, with their backs to Harry, facing Pansy Parkinson, the girl who had spoken out against this reality's destined hero. They all pulled their wands and aimed them at the girl, who looked stricken. Anne and Buffy were on their feet just as fast as the Hogwarts students, Xander following at a more sedate pace.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," Professor McGonagall said, "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the

rest of your House would follow?" It wasn't a question.

The three Sunnydalians watched as the tables emptied of younger students and the entire group of Slytherins, before they were approached by the boy with the lighting bolt scar. "I um... I couldn't help but notice what you did back there, standing up for me. You don't even know me, but you still stood up for me, so thank you."

"We know a little bit about you." Buffy said.

"Yeah, and we're happy to stand on your side. We're gonna kick some Death Eater butt."

A grin broke out on Harry's face. "Good. We're glad to have you."

He headed over to a family of red-heads, while a powerfully built black man climbed onto the stage where the teachers table was. "We've only got half an hour until midnight, so we need to act fast! A battle plan has been agreed to between the teachers of Hogwarts and the Order of the Phoenix. Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and McGonagall are going to take groups of fighters up to the three highest towers — Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor — where they'll have a good overview, excellent positions from which to work

spells. Meanwhile Remus-" He pointed to a shabbily dressed wizard.

"Arthur" He then pointed to the most senior of the red-headed family, sitting at the Gryffindor table "And I will take groups into the grounds. We'll need somebody to organize defense of the entrances of the passageways into the school-"

"Sounds like a job for us." Called one half of a pair of red-headed twins from the same red-headed family.

"All right," The man continued, "Leaders up here and we'll divide up the troops!"

Xander stood, and led the two slayers to the man identified as 'Remus'. "We're with you, Mister Lupin."

"Alright, glad to have you." He said, while mentally preparing for battle. He led them through the front doors of the castle, and out into the courtyard, along with several students. "Spread out, and be ready to hold the entrance.

"Yes professor," Said a number of the students, before doing as he said, moving some distance away, and taking cover behind the low stone walls.

Xander sat atop the wall, completely ignoring the coming danger. "You girls wanted a fight, so here we are. Are you ready for it?"

They both nodded, serious looks on their faces.

"Okay, so... You'll want to avoid their spells. They can't physically hurt you, even the killing curse will only stop your hearts for a few seconds, but they can take control of you with the Imperious curse. If that happens I'll be there to free you, but do try not to get hit."

"Yes sir." Buffy said, sarcastically. Anne leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, before turning toward the woods in the distance. Lupin had cast a series of light orbs high into the air, illuminating the field. In that light, they could see dozens of men slinking out from within the forest.

As the masked men approached, Xander stood from his spot on the wall. There was a sudden flash of white light between them and the hooded and masked Death Eaters. As the light disappeared, they could see a man with long gray hair and a beard, who lifted a staff above his head. He then called out, his voice carrying to be heard in every corner of the school grounds.

"You shall not pass!"

There was another flash of light, and Gandalf was gone. In his place was what appeared to be a white-skinned bald man in a black bodysuit with mechanical parts coming out of his face and hands.

"Resistance is futile." Then in a flash, he too was gone.

Xander grinned, "Go get 'em, girls."

Buffy and Anne charged forward, spinning, flipping, and generally dodging the barrage of incoming spells. Buffy was the first to close with the Death Eaters. She threw a right hook, shattering the mask he was wearing, before kicking him in the gut, tossing him backward nearly five feet. She then spun to take on a second wizard. Anne meanwhile had reached her own combatant and threw a chain of punches and kicks, beating the daylights out of him, before hurriedly dodging an incoming killing curse.

At that point, Buffy was hit with an Incarcerous spell, which wrapped her in ropes, tying her up and dropping her to her knees.

"I'm going to have fun with you, before I kill you." The death eater who had cast it said. He was shocked, when Buffy flexed, snapping the ropes easily, before jumping to her feet, and punching him in the solar plexus. He let out a deep breath with a whoosh, dropping to his own knees.

"Ooo, pretty." She said, pulling a jewel encrusted knife from the death eaters belt, before punching him unconscious.

"I'd be careful with that, if I were you." Xander said from behind her, startling her, as she had last seen him back by the courtyard. "That thing has a nasty curse on it. It sucks the life force out of people it injures."

"Eeww." She said, before grabbing the blade in her other hand, and snapping it off from the hilt, dropping the sharp piece to the ground. "At least I get to keep the pretty part." she said.

"Ooo, Pretty." Anne said, as she approached, and saw the bejeweled handle. Xander grinned at how alike the two still were.

"Avada Kadavra!" Cried a masked wizard. He was heading up a group of ten other wizards and witches. Xander lashed out, shoving his right hand outward, causing Remus Lupin to fly out of the path of the oncoming Killing Curse which now soared past harmlessly. Remus quickly rolled to his feet, and swung his wand, attempting to disarm the Death Eater, who batted the spell aside. He reached up, and pulled his mask off, revealing himself to be the werewolf Fenrir Greyback.

"You are pathetic." Greyback said, "All the power I gave you, and you fear it, and run from it."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have bitten me." Lupin said, before flinging his wand out, shooting a red spell at Greyback, who batted it too aside, before beginning to duel.

Xander snapped his fingers, causing two simultaneous light flashes to happen, creating two people-constructs. He looked to the two men, before pointing to the wizards. "Jasper and Emmett Cullen. Werewolves."

The two Cullen men smiled widely, before blurring forward, attacking with abandon. The fight lasted seconds, as the two vampires took out the ten werewolves, who in their terror fired useless spells at the vampires. The spells were reflected by their marble-like skin. Soon all ten werewolf wizards and witches were unconscious or worse. As soon as they were done, Xander snapped his finger, making the two vampires vanish in dual flashes of light.

"That was..." Anne started.

"Yeah." Buffy added. They turned to see Greyback lying face down, unconscious on the ground.

"Good job, Remus." Xander said, before turning to the Girls, "Come on. We got more Death Eaters to deal with."

He looked around, noting all the unconscious wizards and the group of students who were already heading back to the castle, before snapping his fingers, teleporting himself and the two slayers inside, into a torch lit corridor. They moved around the castle, occasionally stopping so Anne and Buffy could help out random students in their fights with the Death Eaters, by beating the evil wizard or witch senseless.

Eventually they made it to the seventh floor, where two red-headed boys where fighting two death eaters. Suddenly, a large door appeared in the far wall, which swung open, dispelling abundant quantities of thick black smoke. Moments later, two boys, followed by two more and a girl flew out of the room on flying broomsticks, quickly crashing into the far wall.

"C- Crabbe." The blond haired Draco Malfoy muttered.

"He's dead," Said the red head, Ron Weasley, harshly. Moments later a group of headless, horse- riding ghosts passed by, ignoring all that was going on in the corridor.

"Where's Ginny?" Harry Potter asked, "She was here. She was supposed to be going back into the Room of Requirement."

They discussed the likelihood of finding her amidst the chaos, before the frizzy-haired girl, Hermione Granger, noticed that Harry was carrying a tarnished tiara, which was leaking a thick tar-like blood. The item suddenly vibrated violently, and fell apart into pieces, and emitting a high-pitched wail.

"It must have been Fiendfyre!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Sorry?" Ron asked.

"Fiendfyre — cursed fire — it's one of the substances that destroy Horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared use it, it's so dangerous — how did Crabbe know how to — ?"

"Must've learned from the Carrows." Harry said.

"Shame he wasn't concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really," Ron said, as he tried to wipe the soot off his face. "If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry he was dead."

Xander then turned his attention to the fight going on between the two red-heads and the two Death Eaters, one of who during his fight had his hood fall back, showing recognizably streaked hair.

"Hello, Minister," The older of the two boys called out, "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

"You're joking, Perce!" The younger boy, one of the red-headed twins called. They finished off their separate Death eaters, one stunned, and the other transfigured into a sea urchin.

"You actually are joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were —"

He didn't get to finish what he was saying, as a massive explosion rocked the castle, causing the roof above the younger red head to cave in.

"Fred!" The older boy, who's name was Percy, cried, "No, Fred!" He ran over to the collapse, searching for his brother.

"I'm over here, Perce!" Fred cried. Percy spun, seeing his brother, unharmed, standing by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. He then quickly ran over to him, pulling Fred into a hug.

"How?"

"There was a bright flash of light," Hermione explained, "And he just appeared."

"Sorry!" Xander exclaimed, "That was me."

"You saved my brother?" Percy asked.

"Course I did." Xander answered, raising his arms, and snapping his fingers, making Fred vanish in a flash of light. "Would you like me to put him back under the rubble?"

"Uh, no! No, I believe you."

"Good." Xander said, Fred reappearing.

"What just happened?" Fred questioned.

Percy just smiled, "Nothing, little brother. Nothing at all. Let's go." They were about to run off to find more Death Eaters, when they were forced to back away from the large hole in the wall created by the cave in, as a massive spider struggled to fit through the hole.

"Gyahh!" Buffy and Anne cried in unison, at the sight of the giant spider. Ron and Harry reacted first, casting simultaneously, propelling the spider away from the hole.

"It brought friends." Harry called, as he looked out through the hole, to see dozens of huge spiders making their way to the school.

"Allow me." Xander said, then snapped his fingers. Suddenly the sky was filled with massive crows, all swooping down to feast upon the spiders, who turned tail, and retreated back to the forest, trying to get away from the birds.

"That was brilliant, Mate." Ron declared.

"Ah-thank you." Xander said, before turning, and leading Anne and Buffy back to the main entrance hall, where there were all kinds of battles going on. Lavender Brown was fighting along side Professor Flitwick, taking on a Death Eater named Richard Yaxley. Next to them, Kingsley Shacklebolt fought a masked Death Eater.

As they walked past, Xander shoved his palm out, causing the two Death Eaters to fly backward, slamming into the stone wall, dropping into unconsciousness. The three didn't even slow down, as they headed for the open castle doors. Just as they approached, a massive foot stepped down just feet away from them.

"Whoa, that guy is giant." Buffy asked.

"That it is." Xander answered.

"I don't think we can do much to fight him." Anne commented.

"Not yet." Xander answered, "How would you like to be taller?"

"Wait," Buffy said, "You mean..." She pointed up at the head of the Giant. Xander just grinned, before snapping his fingers. There were two massive sized flashes of light, then in their place were two massively tall blond girls.

Buffy grabbed the Giant's arm, pulling him away from the castle, where Anne socked him in the gut, doubling the Giant over. They were about to double team him, when two more Giants stomped over to them.

Buffy quickly punched the first giant, knocking him out, then the girls each turned to take on one of the giants who, despite being used to having superior size and strength, were not trained fighters. They didn't last long.

Once the three giants were out of the way, Anne turned to find Xander, who had had to teleport away to prevent being accidentally stepped on. He reappeared standing on her shoulder, and wearing a radio head-set. He made two huge versions appear on Anne and Buffy.

"Okay, there's another giant coming from the forest, over that way." Xander said into the microphone, while pointing. Anne took two steps, accidentally stepping on the one remaining Acromantula that hadn't run from the massive crow constructs Xander had made earlier.

"Watch your step, that coulda' been a student under foot."

"Oops, sorry." she said, abashedly. They circled the castle, and in the distance they could see a group of students, led by Harry Potter, creating glowing animals. He quickly explained the Patronus Charm to the two girls as they approached. Suddenly the giant they were looking for barreled out of the forest, drawn by the glowing animals.

"Run!" Harry cried, he and his friends scattering.

"Don't worry, guys, we got him." Anne called, as they approached. She and Anne each grabbed an arm of the giant, and dragged it away from the students, closer to the forest. Once they had a bit of distance, Anne kneed the giant in the gut, while Buffy punched him repeatedly in the face. It wasn't long before the giant was rendered unconscious. Unfortunately, due to the movement, Xander was unable to hold on to Anne's shoulder and fell, vanishing part way down in a flash of light, and reappearing about ten feet away.

Once the Giant was beaten into unconsciousness, Xander spoke, "There are no more giants around, time to shrink again."

With two more massive flashes, the two giant girls were gone, replaced by the normal Buffy and Anne.

"You couldn't have left us a little bit taller?" Buffy asked.

"I know, right?" Anne agreed. They headed back to the castle, where they continued moving about, fighting Death Eaters as they went. They were taking out their sixth, when a cold cruel voice reverberated around the castle.

"You have fought, valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and

child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

"Come on." Xander said, "We've got things to do." They headed for the ground floor of the castle, and entered the Great Hall, to find a line of injured people, but no dead.

They approached Harry Potter, who looked around confused, before speaking to his two friends. "Where are all the dead? Are they still outside?"

"Oh," Xander spoke up, "about that."

He raised his arm, and snapped his fingers. There was more then a dozen light flashes, and there stood a number of students, looking confused at finding themselves standing in the Great Hall.

"There aren't any dead, Harry. No one's died for you." Xander explained, "I pulled them out of the time line right before their deaths, and deposited them back here."

Xander couldn't help but grin, using this line "Everybody lives, Harry. Just this once, everybody lives. And speaking of everybody living, there's a fighter that's missing."

Xander snapped his fingers again, and there was another flash, this one making a man appear, who immediately dropped to the floor, unconscious. "Someone should really wake him up."

"Sirius?!" Harry cried, lunging forward to cast an enervate on the man, who's eyes fluttered open.

"Ha- Harry?"

"It's me, Sirius, you're alright."

"What happened?" The man, Sirius Black, asked as he climbed to his feet. "The last thing I remember was the battle in the Department of Mysteries."

"Yeah, and you were too busy insulting Bellatrix to take the fight seriously. She killed you because you were too busy kidding around!" Harry shouted, as he smacked Sirius on the shoulder, tears running down his face.

"Oh, Pup, I'm okay, I'm here." Black said, hugging his godson.

"Only thanks to Q."

"Who?" Sirius asked.

"That would be me." Xander answered, stepping closer. "I am Q."

"And he saved you." Harry said, pulling away from the hug.

"Well, thank you." Sirius commented, while keeping one arm around Harry's shoulders.

"Not a problem."

"Harry," Hermione interrupted, approaching them. "I know it's great that Sirius is back, but we're limited on time, Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Oh right." He said, holding up a jar that contained a glowing white foggy looking liquid.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked.

"We'll explain everything to you, Sirius." Hermione said, gesturing to herself and Ron. "Go on Harry."

The boy nodded, before hurrying out of the Great Hall, to go view the memories. Xander knew what was in them, and all about Dumbledore's plans for Harry's death.

Anne grabbed Xander's hand, and pulled him away from where Sirius, Ron, and Hermione were talking, leading him to a quiet corner.

"So what can you tell us about Harry and Voldemort?" Anne asked. Buffy nodded, confirming that she too wanted to know.

"Well, Voldemort found an extremely dark spell, the darkest. It's a way to shear pieces off of his soul, and place them into items that act as anchors keeping his soul on Earth if he dies, which he did when Harry was a one year old baby. Harry, Hermione, and Ron have spent the last year hunting the soul anchors down. There are two left. One in Voldemort's snake, and the one in Harry, himself."

The girls gasped in tandem. "Don't worry, it's going to be dealt with soon. Anyway, Harry has had a hard life. After his parents died, he was left with his magic-hating relatives, who treated him like a slave, making him work all day every day, while starving him, and keeping him locked in a cupboard."

"Oh, that's horrible."

"Isn't it, though." Xander agreed offhandedly, as his attention was on Harry, who was sneaking out of the castle under his invisibility cloak. Xander knew that he would stop to talk to Neville, who at the moment was standing outside with Oliver wood, watching the dark forest, in case any of the Death Eaters didn't get the message.

Xander popped himself over to the area behind Hagrid's cottage, which currently stood empty, as the half-giant and his boarhound named Fang were in the Great Hall.

Xander stood for a moment waiting, until he saw Harry, under his invisibility cloak heading his way. He stepped out from behind the cottage, directly in Harry's path.

"Hello Harry."

The boy in question debated trying to get past the strange teen who seemed to have the amazing powers, but realized that he obviously knew where he was, cloak or not. Harry pulled off the cloak, holding it awkwardly in front of himself.

"Q, right?"

"That's me." Xander said, "Now... do you really think I'm going to let you give yourself over to Voldemort?"

"I have no choice. I have to."

"I know all about the Horcrux, Harry. And I'm here to get rid of it."

"You can do that?"

"Do you really think Voldemort's piddly magic is able to stand against my might? I am Q."

Seeing the blank look on Harry's face at that declaration, he remembered that the boy had never got to watch TV growing up, and wouldn't have seen Star trek. He'd have no idea what a Q was capable of.

"Allow me." Xander stepped forward, and pressed two fingers of his right hand to Harry's scar, then pulled them away, drawing with them a long black, dripping, oily cord. Harry's face scrunched up in pain, his hands reaching up to cover his scar, but then he fought off the desire to touch the scar which still was connected to the black oily cord. Finally, the cord disconnected from His scar, and drew into itself, until Xander was holding a black sphere.

"Hmm." He said aloud, "Interesting. I think I'm going to hold onto that for a while. I don't think he's suffered enough." With a small flash of light, the sphere was gone.

"I thought you were going to destroy it. I can't kill Voldemort for good without it gone."

"It is gone." Xander explained, "It's removed from the time line. For all intents and purposes, it's gone. I am just able to recall it when I want to... Now..."

He snapped his fingers, causing himself and Harry to appear with a flash of light in the Great Hall. Harry ran over to where Ron and Hermione were sitting with the Weasley family, while Xander moved over to his girls.

They ticked off the time until the hour was over. Finally, it was time. As if on cue, there was a cry of 'Harry Potter' from outside.

The people in the hall turned as one, to look out through the door. The sight was truly pathetic. There was Voldemort, and the only inner circle Death Eater left was Bellatrix LeStrange. The rest had been taken out by Anne and Buffy. The remaining Death Eaters were all lower ranking ones, the ones that had run away when the fighting got tough. It seemed that Voldemort didn't even notice that his ranks were dwindled, and fairly outnumbered now, his obsession with Harry causing him to hyper-focus.

"Harry Potter." Voldemort hissed, as Harry stepped forward, staring at the snake-faced wizard across the empty Entry Hall. "I expected you to come to me in the forest. You are going to let all these people die for you, because you were too cowardly to do so?"

"Look around you, Tom Riddle, No one has died for me."

He looked around at the number of people opposing him, before getting angry and whipping out the Elder Wand. "Avada Kadavra!" The green energy shot from his wand flying straight for Hermione, who froze, terrified, before a hand shot out intercepting the spell. Xander stood between Voldemort and Hermione holding a glowing green orb, the compressed killing curse that Voldemort had just fired.

"Impossible!" Voldemort cried.

"I'll say to you what I said to Harry earlier. Do you really think that your piddly little magic can affect me? I am Q!" Just as he said "Q" he flung out his hand, tossing the green killing curse back toward the Death Eaters, hitting Bellatrix LeStrange square in the chest, flinging her back out the open doorway.

"Noo!" Voldemort screamed, following Bellatrix's flight, before aiming his wand at Xander and firing multiple curses at him. Xander rolled his eyes, and simply flicked his hand outward, causing all the incoming spells to instantly reflect back, hitting the Death Eaters instead, taking out the last of them. Not killed, but stunned, charmed and transfigured.

Xander grinned as he held Voldemort's attention, while subtly causing a bejeweled sword, the sword of Griffindor to appear in Neville's hand. Realizing what he held, he lunged forward, crying out as he did. Voldemort's spun, at sight of the movement, pulling his wand around to react, but it was too late. Neville swung the enchanted sword, causing the protective bubble around the snake Nagani to collapse, and the snake's head to go flying away from it's body.

Voldemort cried out in fury, but Xander just grinned before looking over his shoulder. "If you would do the honors, ladies."

Anne and Buffy stepped forward, one on each side of Voldemort, and took turns. Anne swung first, hitting Voldemort in the face causing him to spin around, where Buffy waited, to hit him again, spinning him back around only to be struck again by Anne. They each hit him three times before he collapsed, groaning painfully, while Anne and Buffy were grinning.

"Okay, Harry." Xander said "He's all yours."

"What?" Harry asked, as they stood over the groaning dark wizard. "But... I expected to have to fight him. This is just an execution."

"Do you want my sword, Harry?" Neville asked.

"Um... no thanks, Neville."

"It's kinda a shame after all that, not to kill him," Xander said, "But if you really don't want to kill him, then I guess I can just strip away his magic, and lock him in some prison somewhere."

Xander knelt down next to the battered wizard and pressed two fingers to his head, sapping away his magic and sealing his magical core, forever leaving him a muggle. He then snapped his fingers, causing Voldemort to vanish in a flash of light.

"Where did you send him?" Harry asked.

"Away." Xander answered, "That's all that matters."

He turned to the gathered witches and wizards. "It's over ladies and gentlemen. Time to celebrate."

Surprised muttering coursed through the crowd, before the first people began to hug and cry, happy that the battle was over, and no one died.

In a flash of light, Xander, Anne, and Buffy were back in Sunnydale, just minutes after they left.

"We're back!" Buffy declared. "I'm going to go see Angel."

After Buffy was gone, Xander turned to Anne. "You happy? Had a good fight, saved the day."

"Kinda. But what about Harry?"

"Don't worry about him. He goes on to marry his childhood romance, has three kids, becomes an auror, which is like a magical policeman, and has a good life."

"But he hasn't so far." Anne pointed out. "You can travel back in time, can't we go back and help him?"

Xander sighed, trying to work out a good answer. "Technically, no, we can't. What happened to him has already happened. We can't change it, because that would create a paradox."

His eyes lit up with an idea. "But there are other Harry Potters in other realities, that can use us. We can go help them."

"Alright! Let's do it!"


	20. Chapter 20 - Helping Harry

AN: This is by far the longest Chapter I've ever written on any of my stories, at 44 pages. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 20 – Helping Harry

Harry Potter was a strange child. Well, not that he was strange himself, but that strange things happened around him. Like the time that he was in school, and he got angry because his cousin Dudley was shooting slimy spit balls at him, when all of a sudden his teacher's hair turned blue. The strangest part was that he seemed to be the only one to notice. None of the students laughed, no one pointed it out, and after he returned from recess he saw that her hair had returned to normal. He didn't get in trouble for it.

Another strange thing was that every time he got punished and was locked in his cupboard without eating, there was always a hot meal waiting for him inside. The first few times he thanked his uncle for the food, the man ignored him, as if he couldn't even hear him talking.

Or how every time he got sent to do chores, he always found them already done. Food in pans already cooked, garden already weeded, the lawn already cut, which meant all he had to do was avoid his family for the day, and they never seemed to notice that he wasn't actually working.

There were a lot of things they never seemed to notice, like how his room under the stairs was bigger then it should be. Even though looking at the stairs themselves the room should only be a tiny cupboard, in reality it was probably the biggest room in the house, with a comfy queen size bed and toys for him to play with.

Sometimes, he felt like it was his parents watching over him from wherever they went after they died. He often tried to picture them, and he could see flashes of a man with messy black hair like his own, or a woman with red hair: but he also had memories of a blonde woman, a man with a crooked grin, and a long haired man that could turn into a dog. At the time, he didn't know who they were, but he could remember the woman holding him and singing him to sleep. He wasn't sure they were even real. After all, people couldn't turn into animals.

He often dreamed about the pretty blonde woman singing him to sleep, but couldn't remember what the song was when he woke up. However, thinking about it always made him smile.

It was the day of his first report card, that they came to him. He had come home with straight A's and a note from his teacher stating how helpful he was in class, and how smart he was. He proudly showed the note to his Aunt and Uncle who screamed at him, accusing him of cheating for getting better grades then their precious little Dudley-kins. He ran to his cupboard in tears, and sat there crying before he suddenly felt a pair of arms encircle him, hugging him tightly. He looked up, shocked that someone was hugging him, to see the blonde woman from his memories. As she sang softly to him, his tears stopped and he smiled widely. It was the song from his dreams!

"Hello, Harry." Came a male voice. Harry looked up to see two men standing in his room. The two men from his memories, the one with the crooked grin, and the one who could turn into a dog. "I don't know if you remember us, but that is Anne, I am Q, and this is Sirius."

"Are you my parents?" Harry asked. He noticed that the blonde woman had tears in her eyes at that question.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but we aren't. Sirius is your god-father. As for Anne and myself, we can be your friends."

"I'd like that, mister Q, sir."

"Uh, no, no Harry, it's just Q."

"We're the people that have been looking out for you since you were placed with those horrid relatives of yours." Anne explained.

"You've been looking out for me?"

"Well yeah." Xander answered, "Who do you think expanded the cupboard under the stairs, or provides you with hot meals, or keeps that mangy mutt Ripper off of you. After all, that aunt of yours trained the dog to attack you."

Anne growled at the thought of someone purposely hurting her Harry, who she cared about as if he were her own son. They had been watching over Harry for years, making sure he was fed and well-cared for. (Luckily, Xander had arrested Anne's aging for the years that passed. When asked why he was able to stop her aging now, when he had said he wasn't able to previously, he simply pointed out that back then he was still tied to his human notions of what he was capable of. Now he knew better.)

And then Anne told him what he had wanted to hear from his relatives. She looked at his report card, and told him how proud they were of him. They pushed him to keep learning, no matter what his Aunt and Uncle said. After that he stopped showing his reports to his relatives, instead bringing them to his room, where his true family were always waiting to hug him and play with him, and show him how much they loved him. And they were always there for him.

Today he just hoped that something good like that would happen to help him out, as he didn't want to get in trouble for being on the school roof. He didn't even know how he had ended up there. He had jumped to get behind some trash bins to hide, as he was being chased by Dudley and his pack of thugs, when he found himself on the roof.

"This is quite a pickle you've found yourself in." Came a voice from behind him, making him spin, shocked.

"Q! Anne! Sirius! I didn't mean to! I didn't-" He began trying to explain.

"We know that, Harry." Anne said, soothingly, "It's time we explained to you why these strange things keep happening to you."

"You know why these things keep happening? But I don't have time. I need to get back down before someone sees me up here."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Xander replied, then nodded toward the edge of the roof. Following his lead, Harry moved to the edge and looked down. What he saw amazed him. Everyone was frozen in place, some mid step. There was a red rubber ball floating in the air where it had stopped, having been kicked.

"You stopped them all?" Harry asked.

"Of course not, that would be silly." Xander responded, "I stopped time."

Harry was struck speechless for a moment. "You can do that?"

"I am a Q, Harry. I can do anything I want."

"Wow."

"Okay, now this is something that we've been debating for a while on when to tell you, but have decided this is a good time. The first thing you need to know is that you are a wizard, Harry."

"I'm a what?" The boy asked, shocked

"A wizard." Sirius clarified.

Anne stood by Harry running her hand through his hair, trying to straighten it out. "You can do magic. That's how you've done all these strange things. Like turning your teacher's hair blue."

"Or ending up on the roof." Xander added. "Your parents were a wizard and witch, respectively. They were killed by an evil wizard."

"They gave their lives to protect you, Harry," Anne said, "You should be very proud of them."

"I am." Harry said, tears running down his face. "But why would my Aunt and Uncle say they died in a car wreck?"

"They lied to you, Harry." Sirius pointed out.

"Your aunt grew up with your mother. They were sisters, after all. She was extremely jealous of your mother for having magic, and begged Dumbledore, the headmaster of the Magic school to let her attend.

"There's a magic school?" Harry wondered aloud.

"There are magic schools all over. Not just England, but France, Bulgaria, Brazil, there's three major ones in the US, there's one in Antarctica-"

"Antarctica?" The seven year old boy interrupted. "Isn't it really cold there?"

"Yup." Xander said, "The school is under the ice, so it's protected from the weather, and they use magic to warm it, so it's quite comfy."

"Do I get to go to magic school?"

"If you want to, pup," Sirius said. "You're on the register for Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school your parents and I went to."

"You don't have to go to that one, if you don't want to, Harry." Anne spoke up, "As we said, there are other schools that will take you."

"I dunno, I think I'd like to see where my parents went to school."

"Alright Harry, you've got years to worry about it yet."

"How am I going to afford to go to a magic school? My relatives won't pay for it."

"You're parents left you money, Harry. The Potters are a very old family, and have saved up money over hundreds of years."

"Wow."

"Yup. And even if they didn't, we'd pay for you." Xander pointed out.

Then the began wxplaining things. First, they talked about the magical world, and the 'boy-who-lived' thing. Then they explained to Harry about his parent's friends.

"How come none of them took me in when my parents died?"

"That's a complicated question, Harry. You see... Dumbledore, the man I mentioned earlier who is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, is also one of the most powerful people in the magical government and he felt it was best for you to be raised by your muggle family. He wouldn't listen to anyone who told him otherwise, assured that his way was right. Remus, who we told you about, believed Dumbledore when he was told you were well looked after. The main one who would have insisted he take you in was Sirius. The problem is that he was framed for a crime he didn't commit, and locked away in prison without a trial. We got him out, but he has to stay out of the public eye."

Harry gasped, "We have to help him!"

"They've already taken steps to help me, Harry. They replaced me with a duplicate. No one outside of the people on this roof knows that I'm not in my cell where they put me."

"And we're going to get his name cleared." Anne said.

"How are you going to do that?" Harry asked.

"By bringing this," Xander held up his hands, where a Plexiglass box appeared in a flash of light, containing a nine-toed rat, "to Amelia Bones. She's the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Wormtail!" Sirius declared, upon seeing the rat, which was thrashing about the cage, looking for a way out.

"Wormtail?" Harry asked.

"This is Peter Pettigrew." Xander explained. "He is an Animagus, meaning he has the ability to turn into an animal, in this case, a rat. Hence the nickname 'Wormtail'. We told you about him."

"Yeah. He was a friend of my parents but betrayed them to Voldemort."

At this point the rat had gone silent, quivering in the corner of his Plexiglas cage. "Alright, Harry, I'm going to send you back to the ground, and restart time. You continue to go about your day, and we'll see you after school, okay?"

"Alright." He said, happy at having people who cared about him. In a flash of light, Harry was standing amongst his classmates, who were running around playing games, and having fun. Moments later, the teachers arrived to call them back in to classes.

Meanwhile, Xander sent Sirius back to the house in Fiji where they had been staying. Afterward, Xander, holding the rat in the cage, flashed himself and Anne to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The appeared in the middle of the department where people were milling about or rushing around. Thanks to his power, Xander willed no one to notice that they had appeared in a flash of light. They walked over to the door leading to the office of Amelia Bones, and let themselves in. Inside was a secretary bent over paperwork. They passed her desk, Xander willing her not to notice them either, and knocked on the inner door.

"Enter." Came the voice from within.

Anne opened the door, leading the way into the office. Inside, behind a desk, sat a woman with red hair going heavily gray and wearing a monocle. She looked surprised seeing two people she didn't know enter her office.

"How did you get past my secretary without her alerting me?" Bones demanded.

Xander grinned at her question, while he set the rat cage on her desk. "Consider it a selective notice-me-not charm. You are the only one who knows that we are here."

"Americans? You aren't with the Department of Mysteries, are you?"

"Why would you think we are with that department?"

"They've been working on selective notice-me-not charms for a while. I see you finally got it."

Xander couldn't help but grin again. "Nope, not with the DoM."

"Then who are you?" She asked, "You're dressed like muggles, but if you were, it'd be impossible for you to enter the Ministry."

"Yeah... we're not muggles either." Anne said.

"She's a mystically empowered warrior, and I'm a Q."

"A what?" She questioned, "What's a Q?"

"We're a race of omnipotent super-beings."

"You expect me to believe that?"

Xander grinned, then snapped his fingers, making the three of them disappear. They reappeared standing on a frozen beach, looking out at a frozen sea. Above them, they could see a massive planet hanging in the sky.

"Where are we?" Amelia asked, in awe.

"We are now on another planet. This is the planet Woman Wept." Xander stared up at the planet in the sky, deciding not to mention that they also crossed realities, "Do you believe me now?"

Amelia could only nod, not having words to describe the grandeur that was before them.

"Why is it called Woman Wept?" Anne asked.

"Because from space, the main continent looks like a woman lamenting."

"What happened here?" Amelia asked, looking at the waves frozen hundreds of feet above their heads.

"An asteroid slammed into the planet." Xander explained, "Hit it so hard, it literally pushed the planet out of it's orbit, causing everything on the planet to freeze in an instant. Luckily, there was no life here. Just deserts and oceans."

He turned to Amelia Bones. "Ready to go back to your office?"

She nodded, still staring at the frozen ocean. In a flash of light they were back in the DMLE. Amelia sat heavily back into the chair behind her desk.

After getting her metaphorical feet back under her, Amelia spoke, "Not to sound ungrateful for that... frankly amazing experience, but why did you come to see me?"

"It's simple, Madam Bones, we're here to correct a miscarriage of justice, and free an innocent man."

Amelia stood from her desk, leaning over it. "Are you suggesting that an innocent man has been locked in Azkaban?"

"Yes, we are." Anne interjected.

"Who?"

"Sirius Black."

"But he betrayed the Potters." Amelia declared, "You can't be serious!"

"And how do you know that?" Anne asked, "It's not like he ever had a trial."

"What? You mean we've had someone locked up for six years without a trial?" She hurriedly reached for a button on her desk, before stopping herself. "Do you mind if I call in my lead Aurors?"

"No, go ahead."

Amelia pressed the button, which connected her to her secretary. "Janet, get Rufus and Shack in here, yesterday."

"Yes Ma'am." Janet said in return, surprised at her urgency.

While they waited, Amelia asked a question that had been bugging here, ever since Q had set the clear cage on her desk. "What's with the rat?"

Xander just grinned, and waited until the large black man, named Kingsley Shacklebolt, they had met in the previous universe, along with a man with wild hair and a beard that made him look like a lion, named Rufus Scrimgeour entered the office.

"Ah, perfect timing. Now, about the rat, he's an animagus. His name is Peter Pettigrew, the real betrayer of the Potters."

This drew gasps from the three magical people in the room.

"I'm sorry," Shacklebolt said, ignoring for the moment that they didn't know who the two strangely dressed people were, "But isn't Pettigrew dead?"

"Nope." Anne said, dramatically, "He faked his death,"

"...after betraying the Potters, then being hunted down by Sirius Black. Peter accused Sirius of the betrayal, to frame him, then cut off his own finger, before firing a blasting curse into a gas line, killing those twelve people. If you cast the animagus reversal spell on the rat, you'll find out I'm telling you the truth."

Xander waved his hand, vanishing the cage, and levitating the rat away from the desk to an open area in the office. The two Aurors were amazed by what they believed to be wandless magic, something rarely seen outside the likes of Dumbledore.

The rat floated six inches off the ground, struggling to run away, as Amelia waved her wand at him. With a flash and an odd 'squelching' noise, the rat expanded and turned into a rat-faced man, with small watery eyes.

"Oh thank you!" Peter cried, "Thank you for saving me! This mad-man has held me captive for six years. He transfigured me into a rat!"

Peter, now on his knees, wrapped his arms around Amelia Bones' legs, trying to get her to believe his lies. She kicked him off of her, and stepped back. "Shack, get me some Veritaserum. Rufus, keep him covered."

"Yes ma'am." They echoed at the same time, as Shacklebolt left the office. Peter looked to the opening, as the big Auror exited, then lunged for the open door, trying to turn into a rat to escape. Rufus fired a stunner, but missed, as Xander snapped his fingers, preventing Peter from transforming. A still human Peter misjudged the space needed, as the door was only partly open and he hadn't shrunk. He crashed into the door frame, before falling onto his back and groaning.

"Rufus, restrain him." Amelia said, "And search him while you're at it. Shack, the truth serum."

"Yes, ma'am." Shack hurried out, shutting the door behind himself. Rufus searched the pathetic little man, and found two wands on him. One was nine and a quarter inches long, made of chestnut, with a dragon heartstring core. The other was the wand that had inflicted so much pain, thirteen and a half inches, made of yew, with a phoenix feather core.

"That... is Voldemort's wand." Xander said, causing the one male magical still in the room to jerk at hearing the name. Amelia on the other hand was stolid, even hearing the name of the creature that killed her family. "You really should destroy that thing, before some Death Eater that went unpunished decides to steal it."

"You're right." Amelia said, reaching for it.

"Hang on." Anne spoke up, "I was thinking that maybe Harry deserves to be here to see this."

"Harry?" Amelia asked. "As in Harry Potter? You know where he is?"

"Of course, we do." Xander commented, "We've only been looking after him for the last six years."

"Can you get him and bring him here?" Amelia asked.

"I don't see why not." Xander said. After manipulating the attentions of the people in his class, so they wouldn't notice that Harry had vanished, he brought the boy to Bones' office, making him appear in a flash of light.

Rufus was struck speechless at seeing him do something that even with magic wasn't possible.

"Hello, Harry." Anne said, fussing about with the boy's hair again. "This is Amelia Bones. She's the one who is going to get your god-father out of prison."

"Hello, ma'am." Harry said politely.

"Harry Potter, I must say it is an honor." Amelia said. "I was friends with your mother when we were in school. I'm sorry for not looking you up before now."

"It's alright, ma'am. Q and Anne have been watching out for me."

"If you want to know about Harry's life, you should ask Albus Dumbledore." Anne said with a snarl, "After all, he's the one who placed Harry with his Magic hating, abusive relatives. If it wasn't for us, he'd be a lot worse off."

"You're suggesting that Albus Dumbledore has condoned the abuse of the Magical world's hero."

"Dumbledore isn't nearly the kindly old grandfather he portrays." Xander said, "The man's a shark. That and a thief. He's been stealing money from Harry Potter's trust vault to pay for his extravagant life style."

The two remaining adult magicals gasped, while young Harry cried out, "What!?"

"Don't worry, Harry," Anne said, her hand squeezing the boy's shoulder, "He will be dealt with."

The door opened and Shacklebolt returned with a small bottle of clear liquid, causing Pettigrew to whimper, and his eyes to search for a way out.

"Harry, before we begin, we have something here you should see." Anne said, gesturing to Amelia to hold up the wand. "Harry, this is the wand that killed your parents. We thought you should witness it's destruction."

The boy smiled grimly, tears in his eyes. Amelia held up the wand, then snapped it in two, small sparks coming out from where it broke. She then waved her wand over it, vanishing the pieces.

"There, the wand that has caused so much pain is no more." She said, making Peter whimper all the more. He was terrified at the thought of what his master would do to him if or when he returned, and found out he'd let his wand get broken.

"Alright, Harry," Anne said, "It's time for you to return to school."

"Okay." He said, smiling at her for mothering him. He loved that they cared about him. Xander snapped his fingers, returning Harry back to school.

"What are you?" Peter asked shocked, looking at Xander.

"It doesn't matter, you aren't going to remember me."

"Shack, the serum." Amelia said, pointing at Peter. Rufus manhandled the small man, wrenching his mouth open, allowing Shack to drip three drops onto his tongue. The rat of a man struggled not to swallow, not aware that the potion would absorb just as easily through the membranes in the mouth. A moment after being administered, Peter's eyes went glossy and blank. Then Amelia began the questioning.

The next day, Xander, Anne, and Harry entered the Ministry of Magic through the guest entrance getting badges that, thanks to Xander's snark, said they were there to sell girl scout cookies.

In truth, they were there for the trial of Sirius Black. Madam Bones had called an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot, not letting anyone know what the meeting was about.

Immediately after the meeting with Amelia Bones, Xander had returned Sirius to his cell in Azkaban prison, only for him to be removed, and brought to the ministry holding cells.

They arrived at the Wizengamot meeting chamber, which doubled as the court room, and quickly moved to the visitors section which was rapidly becoming packed with people. After about five minutes, Amelia rapped a gavel on her podium.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice." The woman said.

"Yes, we're all here Amelia," Said a man in a green bowler hat, "Perhaps you can now tell us why we are here."

Xander leaned over, explaining to Harry that the man in the hat was the Minister of Magic.

"We are here to correct a grave injustice. We are here to give a trial to a man that has been in Azkaban for six years without one."

There was a loud murmur that emanated from both the Wizengamot members and the crowd that came to view the proceedings. Amelia rapped her gavel again, to get silence.

"Bring in the accused." She ordered. The doors to the holding cells opened, and in came Shacklebolt and Scrimgeour, leading Sirius Black into the court room. He was followed by a balding man in fine robes, his lawyer. The minister leapt to his feet.

"Amelia, what kind of joke is this? We all know he is guilty."

"What we believe doesn't matter, Minister. Our law states we can not hold any prisoner longer then fifteen days without a trial."

"But Amelia," Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock, began, "Mister Black has had a trial."

"No, as a matter of fact, he hasn't. I checked for his records personally."

Xander smiled at this. He knew that Dumbledore faked records of a trial, but with a snap of his all powerful fingers, he made the records disappear.

"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked, "I do seem to recall-"

"I am absolutely sure," Amelia said, interrupting the aging Chief Warlock, "that this man never had a trial. The only paperwork we had on him, was the arrest record, and the paperwork sentencing him to Azkaban, signed by Barty Crouch, and Albus Dumbledore."

While Amelia was arguing with the Minister, and the Chief Warlock, the two Aurors had led Sirius to a chair that Shack conjured in the middle of the room, and chained him down. They then stood at attention, hands on their wands on either side of the chained wizard.

"Now if we may proceed?" Amelia asked, before turning back to Sirius. "Standing for the accused?"

"Edward Tonks." Spoke up Sirius' lawyer, who was also known as Ted.

"For the prosecution?" Amelia asked.

"Harper Lee." Replied the female prosecuting lawyer.

"Mister Tonks, your client is accused of betraying the secret location of James and Lily Potter, the murder of Peter Pettigrew, and the murder of twelve muggles. What is your plea?"

"Not guilty." Ted informed the court, causing more mutters from the gathered people, followed by more gavel banging.

"Your evidence?"

"Bring him in." Ted ordered. The doors to the holding cells opened, and in came Peter Pettigrew, struggling the whole way, being practically dragged by two of Xander's constructs. Shack waved his wand, creating a second chair, and then assisted the constructs, as they chained Peter down.

"This is Peter Pettigrew," Ted revealed, shocking the whole room, "Alive and well. The real secret keeper of the Potters, having faked his own death, after framing Sirius Black for the betrayal and murders."

At this point the murmurs were louder then ever, and it took nearly three minutes of Amelia banging her gavel to silence them. Finally, she pointed her wand towards the roof, and fired of a noise maker charm, a loud boom echoing around the room, making everyone go silent.

"Amelia," Dumbledore spoke up, scrabbling for reasons to end this trial, and keep Sirius in prison, "How do we know this is really Peter Pettigrew?"

"He has been questioned under Veritaserum, witnessed by myself, and my two head Aurors."

"Why was I not told about this, as soon as you found out?" Asked Minister Fudge.

"It is obviously important that we get to the truth, and I felt that we needed to rush this to court as soon as possible." Amelia said, cleverly evading answering his question.

"How do you plan to get the truth out of these two men?" Albus asked, with just a hint of smugness.

"Perhaps we should just ask them?" Ted said, already having been told that Xander, introduced as Q, would make Peter tell the truth. "Mister Pettigrew, why don't you tell us who the Potter's secret keeper was?"

"Tell the truth." Xander muttered, putting his power behind the command.

"I was." Peter said, bringing a gasp from the crowd. His eyes widened, as he realized he was unable to lie.

"Why was everyone who knew the Potters told that Sirius was the secret keeper?" Ted questioned, with a smirk.

"Sirius felt he was the obvious choice. After all, everyone knew that he was James' best friend, so I convinced Sirius that they should switch to me as the secret keeper. No one would suspect me."

"Then you gave the secret to he-who-must-not-be-named?"

"Yes," Peter agreed, "I gave the secret to the Dark Lord."

"How long have you been a Death Eater?" Ted asked.

"Since my sixth year at Hogwarts."

"Tell us about the night you betrayed the Potters, and the events leading up to Sirius's arrest."

"The spell was cast with me as the secret keeper, but I couldn't bring the secret right to my master. I had to wait for him to summon me. He would have tortured me for disturbing him, yet he still tortured me for delaying with the information. I had to escort him to the Potters, that night. I waited outside, while he went in, but then there was an explosion. I went inside, and found my master's robes and wand on the floor in front of the crib, where baby Harry was crying. Before I could do anything, That big oaf Hagrid showed up, so I grabbed the master's wand and fled. I then transformed into my animagus form, that of a rat, and found a place I could hide and still listen for any news of my master's return. I stayed there for six years, but then I was somehow found out, and brought to The DMLE."

Ted took a breath, before asking his next question, "Where did you hide out?"

"I was the pet of Percy Weasley." Xander could almost hear the gasp from Arthur Weasley who sat nearby in the crowd.

"Now," Ted said, "This next question is important, and as the Secret Keeper, you can answer it. Who cast the Fidelius Charm on the Potters home?"

"Albus Dumbledore." Peter answered, causing more murmurs in the crowd.

"Are you telling me that Albus Dumbledore knew that Sirius Black was not the secret keeper, yet had him sent to Azkaban without a trial?"

"Yes." Peter mumbled.

Ted turned to the court, "Madam Bones, I think that Albus Dumbledore should be questioned on these accusations of causing my client's illegal imprisonment."

"Your client hasn't been cleared yet, but when he is you have my word, I will prosecute this to the fullest." At this, Xander swore he could see Dumbledore gulp.

Harper Lee asked a few questions of Peter, trying to prove they were lying, but to no avail.

Ted then questioned Sirius, who gave the same story, including explaining why he was blaming himself for his friends' deaths.

"I was saying it was me, because it was my fault. I'm the one that convinced them to switch to Peter as the secret keeper. We suspected there was a spy amongst us, but we mistakenly thought it was one of our other friends, namely Remus Lupin."

After asking a few more questions of Sirius, it was Harper's turn. She again tried to prove he was lying, but could tell the Wizengamot wasn't buying it.

Finally, Ted turned to Peter. "Name all of the willing Death Eaters you know of."

Peter started naming names, including Lucius Malfoy, and Walden Macnair who currently worked for the Ministry.

There was a lot more murmuring this time, but Malfoy stood, to shout over the noise. "I've been proven innocent!"

Amelia fired off another noisemaker charm, silencing the commotion, while simultaneously pressing a charmed button on her podium, which signaled the Aurors to enter the room.

"There's only one way to know for sure." Amelia said, "Take Lucius Malfoy and Walden Macnair into custody."

"Yes ma'am." A number of Aurors said. They headed for the Wizengamot crowd, when Lucius pulled his wand, ready to fight his way out.

Before he could cast anything, his wand vanished in a flash of light. The man seemed shocked that his wand was gone, as the Aurors took him into custody, and led him from the room.

"While you are at it, please take Albus Dumbledore into custody as well."

The Aurors seemed shocked, before complying, grabbing Albus, and snapping magic suppressing cuffs onto him, then leading him from the room.

Soon after that, they held the vote, and Sirius was cleared of all charges. Amelia scheduled another meeting of the Wizengamot to vote on what kind of compensation to give Sirius, and then the meeting broke up. Xander led Anne and Harry down the steps to the floor, and across the chamber to where Amelia was standing speaking to Shack and Sirius. Harry threw his arms around his god-father, happy that he was freed.

"You wanted to see us, Madam Bones?" Xander asked.

"How did you know-" She began, but Xander just raised an eyebrow, as if it was obvious, which it kind of was, "Oh, of course. Well, I wanted to talk to you about Dumbledore. To put it bluntly, there's very little chance of him being found guilty. He has too much power."

"I figured as much." Xander said, while watching Harry who was rambling excitedly to Sirius. "Perhaps if we offer him a deal. Get him to rescind his office as Chief Warlock, in exchange for you dropping the charges."

"I don't know if we have enough proof." Amelia commented.

There was as small flash of light, and Xander was holding a roll of parchment, which he passed to Amelia. "That is the last will and testament of James and Lilly Potter. You'll note that it was witnessed by Dumbledore, and in it, it states that he was never to be alone with his muggle aunt and uncle. The will was sealed by Dumbledore, and the man placed Harry in with those very muggle relatives, who hate magic, and all things to do with it. Use that against him."

"I will."

Xander, Sirius, Anne, and Harry went on their way, while Amelia headed for the holding cells. She approached the one holding Albus Dumbledore. "Hello, Albus."

"Amelia, is this really necessary?" He asked, holding up his hands, which were still cuffed together.

"It is. You broke the law, Albus, more then once, it seems." She held up the scroll.

"What is that?" Albus asked, a sinking feeling in the back of his mind.

"The Potter will. The one you ignored."

"How did you get that? I had it sealed." Albus questioned.

"Let's just say, I have powerful friends." Amelia replied, "Now I've been authorized to make a deal with you. You give up your titles as Chief Warlock, and Supreme Mugwump, and I'll drop the charges against you."

Dumbledore sat, going over everything in his head, before realizing that if he didn't resign, they could force him out of office with the evidence they had, which would be a lot worse for him.

"Fine." Amelia took off the cuffs, and handed him his wand. "I, Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore here by resign from my role as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

There was a flash of light, signaling the completion of the magical vow. He did the same for his position as Supreme Mugwump. Afterward, Amelia had him escorted from the building by Kingsley.

After leaving the ministry, Sirius, Harry, Xander, and Anne headed to Gringotts bank. Xander flashed them to the street right outside of the pub.

Xander turned to the seven year old boy, "Harry, this is the Leaky Cauldron. We're on Charing Cross Road, in London. This is the entrance to Diagon Alley, the main magical shopping district in England."

He led them inside the pub, which was a bit on the dingy side. "I know it doesn't look like much, but the entrance is in the back."

They headed through the pub, to a small alley behind the building containing a couple of trash cans, and a bare brick wall. Sirius explained where to tap, and how many times, before doing so with his wand., causing the wall to collapse outward, turning into an archway.

"Wow." Harry said, looking at all the amazing things for sale in the alley.

"I know, right?" Anne asked.

They began walking through the alley, Harry attempting to see everything, when Sirius noticed that no one seemed to be looking a them. "You doing that thing, where no one notices us?"

"Yup." Xander replied.

They walked to a large marble building, and entered, Harry nervously eyeing the armed goblin guards that flanked the main doors.

"Don't worry, Harry. They have great respect for children, and will not hurt you, unless you are blatantly aggressive to them, or pull a wand. You don't have a wand to pull, so you'll be fine."

They stood on line inside the bank, and eventually reached a teller, who ignored them for the moment. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Xander just tapped his index finger to his own lips signaling Harry to stay quiet. Finally, the teller looked up. "Yes?"

"We are here to speak to the Lord Ragnok about a matter of utmost urgency to the Goblin people." Xander said, speaking gobbledygook, the Goblin language.

"And you are?" The counter Goblin asked, after getting over his shock, at hearing a human speaking his language.

"I am Q, this is Anne Summers, and Sirius Black." He said, pointing out the people in his group, "And this is Harry Potter."

"Ah. Mister Potter I know that Account Manager Knifepoint was wanting to speak with you."

"We are aware of Account Manager Knifepoint's request, but before we meet with him, we must meet with Lord Ragnok."

"And what do you have to say human, that you consider so important that you need to speak to Lord Ragnok."

"Treason within the Goblin nation." Was Xander's answer. The counter Goblin gulped, before nodding.

The goblin turned in his chair, and shouted, "Guybrush! Take these humans to see Lord Ragnok."

"This way." The goblin named Guybrush said, before leading way. He was an odd little Goblin, dressed like a pirate in a blue velvet long coat.

They had followed the Goblin through the long winding halls of Gringotts, when Sirius asked, "What was that language you spoke?"

"It's called Gobbledygook, the Goblin tongue." Xander replied.

"It sounded like English to me." Anne said.

"You still have the psychic translator, remember?"

"It seems like so long ago you put that in my head." Anne commented.

"It's been over six years. Now, once we get inside, follow my lead."

They soon stopped at a set of massive golden doors, which Guybrush knocked on, before turning, and hurrying away. The doors swung open, and Xander led his party inside. He bowed deeply, the others doing the same, before the powerful yet ancient looking Goblin sitting on the throne.

"You claim to have news of treason in my nation?" The goblin, Lord Ragnok, king of the Goblins of England and Ireland asked in gobbledygook, while casually caressing a massive battle ax, the implied threat obvious.

Xander replied in the goblin's native tongue, "We have reason to believe that a Goblin by the name of Knifepoint is committing treason, by assisting a wizard to steal from one of your clients, Harry Potter."

"And who is this Wizard that you accuse of the theft?"

"Albus Dumbledore." Xander said. "He claims to be the legal guardian of Harry Potter, yet this goes strictly against the will of James and Lily Potter. Dumbledore had the will sealed in the ministry, and Knifepoint had the Will sealed here in the bank. You are the only one who can unseal it. He has since removed thousands of galleons from the Potter trust."

Ragnok stopped caressing his ax, and leaned forward in his throne. "And who are you to know such things about Gringotts?"

"I am Q." Xander said, causing Ragnok's eyes to go wide in shock.

"Our legends speak of a being calling itself Q that found us as we were dying, and brought us to a new world, where we flourished. We began to learn magic and the ways of money, and became the premiere bankers for the magical world. Every Bank manager learns this tale, in case the great Q ever returns to us."

Xander preened for a moment at the idea of being a 'Great' Q, before Anne smacked him on the back of the head, bringing him down off his pedestal.

"Can you tell us about this event that you met the Q, and came to this world?" Anne asked, her psychic translator making it come out in gobbledygook.

"We were once not the noble creatures that we are now. We fought amongst ourselves so much, we nearly wiped ourselves out. Then the great Q came, and taught us the ways of peace and money. He brought us to this world, and helped Lord Gringott to form the first Gringotts bank.

But that is enough reminiscing." He leaned over, and rang a small bell that sat on the table next to his throne. The doors opened, and in came a Goblin that Xander knew to be Ragnok's personal assistant. "Get me all the records for the Potter Trust, and the Potter Will. It should be sealed. I give you permission to unseal it. Also, have Account Manager Knifepoint detained, and escorted here. While we wait, send in food and drink."

"Yes, my lord." The assistant said, before leaving.

"Um.. what just happened?" Sirius asked.

"Sorry, Lord Ragnok, but Lord Sirius Black does not speak your tongue." Xander explained, before turning to Black, and switching to English. "We explained what's going on with Harry's bank account, and he sent his assistant to get the paperwork."

At that moment, two serving goblins entered, carrying a large tray of food and drink. Which they set on a table near the far end of the room. Ragnok stood from his throne, and approached the table, before picking up a plastic wrapped cake.

Xander couldn't help but grin. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It is a Twinkie." Ragnok explained, "We eat them in remembrance of the great Q that saved us. The tales tell us that he brought our ancestors delicious golden cakes to feast upon. A human that works for us explained to Lord Gringott about these delicious cakes."

"Lord Gringott is still alive?" Anne asked. "When was the first bank formed?"

"The first Gringotts bank was formed more then a thousand years ago. The name Lord Gringott is a title that gets passed down. Through the royal family."

Anne nodded in understanding, while she carefully tried some of the goblin food. Xander warned her away from the green colored meat that he explained was Basilisk meat, a delicacy to the Goblins. Sirius meanwhile stuck to butterbeer, and introduced Harry to the stuff.

Ragnok's assistant soon returned with the paperwork in question, with Account Manager Knifepoint following at sword point. Ragnok returned to his throne, before speaking.

"Account Manager Knifepoint, you stand accused of treason by assisting a wizard in stealing from a trusted client. What have you to say on your behalf?"

"Lies!" Knife point cried, "All lies!"

"We shall see." Ragnok said, before the door opened, and in came a number of other Goblins that Xander knew to be other account managers. They took their time reviewing the Potter records, and the Will. The longer they all were there, the more Knifepoint looked nervous. Finally the goblin that was chosen to represent the account managers approached Ragnok, kneeling before him. He confirmed that, yes, more then six thousand galleons had been removed from the Potter trust vault since the deaths of Lily and James, by Albus Dumbledore, who seemed to have no standing to do so.

Ragnok looked at now ex-account manager Knifepoint. "Get this filth out of my sight."

"He made me! He made me do it!" Knifepoint shouted as he was dragged away, the doors slamming, silencing his cries.

"I think that Harry wishes you to get the money back from Dumbledore by any means at your disposal." Xander said, which made Harry nod. They discussed the specifics of getting the money back, before Ragnok had a goblin attendant escort them back to the lobby, which they quickly passed through to exit the bank.

"Now what?" Anne asked.

"I know!" Sirius said. "Let's get Harry an owl. Every young wizard deserves an owl."

"Can I really have a pet?" Harry asked.

"Of course, honey." Anne said, taking Harry's hand and leading him to Eeylops' Owl Emporium. They followed the excited boy into the shop, as Sirius explained.

"Owls are more then pets, Harry. They are dead useful for sending mail. They always know where you want your letter to go, and can find anyone. Unless they are behind special wards, anyway. You won't have to worry about that until you go to a magic school. Until then, yes, it's your pet."

They took their time walking around the store. Harry was amazed by all the different breeds of birds, until a tiny ball of fluff and new feathers that was, at this point, barely bigger then a tennis ball landed on his shoulder and started pecking at Harry's hair, trying to style it. She couldn't have been older then ten weeks, and had just recently learned to fly.

"I think your owl found you, Harry." Xander commented.

"Can I have her?" The happy boy asked.

"Of course Honey," Anne said, "After all, I don't think she's be too happy being separated from you."

"What should I name her?" Harry asked.

Xander couldn't help himself, he knew what ninety-nine percent of Harry or Harriet Potters in this chain of parallel universes named their owl.

"How about Hedwig?"

The owl hooted happily at the name, flying circles around Harry's head. "I think she likes it."

After all the drama with Dumbledore, the years past swiftly for Harry, who was happy to be away from his relatives who hated him. Once it was announced that Sirius was cleared of all charges he, along with Xander and Anne, moved to London where they took in Harry, raising and caring for him for the next four years. They spent the school year at their home in London, while Harry was in classes, then spent the summers traveling the world, visiting different magical and non-magical sights.

Finally, Harry turned eleven and the day came that he received his Hogwarts letter. Unfortunately, it was delivered by a giant of a man. Oh, he was polite enough, but insisted that he had to escort Harry alone to Diagon Alley, and wouldn't take no for an answer. Finally, Xander had to manipulate his memories, after using his omniscience to figure out that Dumbledore didn't know about Xander and Anne, but believed Harry was living alone with Sirius. He no longer had the trinkets in his office that tracked Harry, after the goblins stripped his office bare while trying to recoup the money he'd stolen from Harry's trust vault.

Hagrid left their home, his eyes glazed over, mind full of false memories of taking Harry to Diagon Alley. Xander, Sirius, and Anne escorted the now eleven year old boy to the Alley themselves, Hedwig flying along to meet them there. She loved riding on Harry's shoulder, as he walked around the alley.

They skipped the wand shop, as Xander knew which wand would choose Harry, and they didn't want any more things to make Harry look like a dark wizard. He'd already yanked the Horcrux out of the boy's head years ago, taking with it the parseltongue ability. As to the wand, he was going to make a wand that would match Harry even better then the Holly and Phoenix Feather. They walked shop to shop, so Harry could see everything, and eventually got him all his supplies, including a rather fancy three compartment trunk. Finally, they were returning to the Leaky Cauldron when Harry spoke up. He was looking at the list of school supplies.

"According to this I need a wand."

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I'm going to make you one." Xander said, making the boy smile. They passed through the pub and out into muggle London, after which Xander transported the whole group back to the house they had been staying at for the last four years. They ate lunch before Xander called to Harry.

"Alright,you ready?" Xander pressed the palms of his hands together, then pulled them apart quickly, a wand appearing between his hands. "Here."

He passed it to the boy, who cautiously took it. "Wow. It feels powerful."

"It should." Xander said, "Give it a wave."

Harry waved the wand, red and purple sparks shooting out of the end that were so bright, they left streaks in the air for a moment.

"What's in it?" Sirius asked.

"It's Holly wood, but it contains the blood of a Q."

"How's that work? You're an energy being. You don't have any blood." Anne questioned, to which Xander just grinned and shrugged.

The month of August passed quickly for Harry, who was being taught household magic by Xander and Sirius. He was able to do magic unmonitored by the ministry, as he didn't get his wand from Ollivander's.

The morning of September the first found Harry hugging Sirius and his pseudo-parents good bye, standing on platform nine and three quarters.

"I'm going to miss you." Harry said.

"I know sweetie," Anne replied, "We'll miss you too. But we'll have you every summer, and the holidays."

"Just look forward to that, pup." Sirius said.

"Remember, we're always just a call away." Xander commented, "All you need to do is call aloud for me. I can hear it and we'll come to you."

"So whenever I miss you, all I have to do is call?"

"That's right." Xander said, "Though why don't you give yourself a few days to settle in and make some friends, before you miss us to much, alright?"

"Alright."

At that moment, the whistle blew, warning that the train would be leaving momentarily. "Go Harry, We'll see you for Christmas."

And with that, Harry got on the train, and was gone.


End file.
